research abstracts · 2015-11-27 · gamification > the engagement game jolanda quak / servant...

The business school that thinks and lives in the future

book of graduates

rotterdam school of management erasmus university

Research Abstracts2014

Part-time Executive International Master of Science in Corporate Communication

2 Book of Graduates 2014 Book of Graduates 2014 3

ContentsPreface 2014

Jacco Bartelds /

Confidence in ‘giving’

Marjolein Bijsterveld / To what extent does public opinion have an

impact on the reputation of a company?

Eline A.M. Bijveld /

Lobbyists and Spin-doctors,

Enemies or friends?

Marisa C. Bourtin /

Manager communications in an international

organization > What more is needed in this

multicultural mix?

Marion van Dam /

The Internal Strategic Alignment Loop >

How to Assess and Increase the Effectiveness

of Internal Communication in Creating Strategic

Alignment

Sara Magdalena Goldberger /

Elections to the European Parliament;

Communicate or Perish

Ernestien (F.E.) Honning /

Corporate Messaging about innovative

technologies > How to deal with complex topics?

Jeroen Philip Jongeling / Protecting Reputation During a Crisis

Annemarie Jongepier /

What is the effect of Senior Management of ING

Insurance > Investment Management on the overall

engagement in times of organizational change?

Christoph Lergenmueller /

Crisis Communication through Social Media

Learnings from the Costa Concordia, MH370 and

MH17 crisis

Marlies Maasdam /

Employees as reputation enforcers >

How can employees be facilitated to act as

ambassadors in a Network Society?

Michelle Bernardo de Medeiros /

High Performance Communications Departments

Esther Oostrom /

Gamification > The Engagement Game

Jolanda Quak / Servant Leadership > How servant leadership

characteristics interrelate

Anna Saghabalyan /

The impact of environmental NGOs > CSOs on the

business environment in post-communist countries

Stefanie Wienhoven /

Heads up for change! Insights how interpersonal

aspects contribute to successful cascading during

strategic change

Lotte Zwijnenburg /

The communication factor in innovative

organizations > a story about the butterflies in the

corporate communication office

Thesis coaches

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Book of Graduates / Research Abstracts © 2014

Book of Graduates 2014 54 Book of Graduates 2014

This year we celebrate the 16th graduation of the

Part-time Executive International Master of Science

in Corporate Communication Programme (MCC)

at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus

University. Seventeen (17) new graduates have

officially become Master of Science in Corporate

Communication as a result. We are proud to

present the abstracts of the seventeen theses that

have been written by the Graduates of this Master

programme.

Including this year’s graduates, the MCC

programme has about 250 MCC graduates.

Many of them made a substantial career move after

their graduation, which they were able to realise not

only by the knowledge insights and skills gained by

the programme, but even more by their own

perseverance and ability to bring this into practice.

Over the last years they have been challenged

with intensive courses, case studies, role plays,

management games, the most recent academic

theory and guest lectures from worldwide renowned

professors of a diverse range of universities and

businesses practitioners in order to support their

goals to become even more successful communica-

tion professionals.

The new Masters of Science in Corporate

Communication are:

Jacco Bartelds (Ministry of General Affairs), Marjolein Bijsterveld (TAQA), Eline Bijveld (9292 Reisinformatiegroup B.V.), Marisa Bourtin (Bank for International Settlements), Marion van Dam (KPN), Sara Magdelena

Goldberger (European Parliament), Ernestien Honning, Jeroen Jongeling (Atrium Groep B.V.), Annemarie Jongepier (Philips), Christoph Lergenmueller (Weber-Stephen Deutschland GmbH), Marlies Maasdam

(Mol Maasdam), Michelle Medeiros (Roche Pharmaceuticals), Esther Oostrom (Aegon),

Jolanda Quak (RSM, Erasmus University), Anna Saghabalyan (Geoteam CJSC – Lydian International Ltd.), Stefanie Wienhoven (Océ Technologies) and Lotte Zwijnenburg (Agudeza).

I hope they have learned a lot during the courses we

offered them in the past years. The least I could say,

also on behalf of all the teaching staff that worked

with them, is that we have learned a lot from them

too. Their willingness to discuss situations and

challenges from practice in their own organisations

and to relate these to the topics discussed in the

lectures were inspiring and exciting.

In the sixteen years of the Master of Science in

Corporate Communication programme we succee-

ded in creating an international programme that

presents all leading experts in a teaching role.

I would like to thank the following people (teaching

staff) who contributed tremendously to the success

of this programme:

Paul Argenti of Darthmouth College U.S.A.; John Balmer of Bradford University UK; Joan Hemels,

Universiteit van Amsterdam; Mark Hunter, INSEAD;

Jan Kleinnijenhuis, VU University Amsterdam;

Onno Maathuis, De Positioneerders; Michael Pratt of University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign; Davide Ravasi of Bocconi University; Betteke van Ruler, UVA ; Eliane Schoonman of Issues Management

Institute; Gabi Schaap, Radboud Universiteit

Nijmegen; Majken Schultz of Copenhagen Business

School, Denmark; Bob de Wit of Nyenrode Business

University and from our Faculty: Guido Berens,

Frans van den Bosch, Dirk Brounen, Gerrit van Brug-gen, Fred Gertsen, Mignon van Halderen, Pursey Heugens, Muel Kaptein, Slawek Magala, Gerard Mertens, Lucas Meijs, Eric Waarts, Rolf Zwaan, all

working at the Rotterdam School of Management,

Erasmus University.

It’s also with great pride that we welcome

Drs. Bert Regeer of Royal Shell Netherlands,

who will present the ‘Shell Netherlands Stimulation

Award for Excellence in Corporate Communication’

to the author of the ‘best thesis’ of 2014. ‘The

Andreas Innovation in Communication Award’ will

be announced by Ing. Dries van de Beek, Former

Chairman of the Board, CCC BV. The winners are

announced on the 21st of November 2014 during

the official graduation ceremony.

I wish all the graduates a bright future with

successful careers and I congratulate them with

their accomplishment.

Prof. dr. Cees B. M. van Riel

Professor of Corporate Communication

Programme Director of the Part-time Executive

International Master of Science in Corporate

Communication programme

Preface


Organisations can build trust by proving to be com-

petent, benevolent and honest. These trust factors

tell us something about the nature of the recipient

of confidence. The way in which charitable orga-

nisations communicate on this subject with their

stakeholders is also important.

Transparency is an important aspect in buil-

ding trust. Transparency is a situation in which

organisations and stakeholders have sufficient

understanding of each other’s views, activities and

achievements. An organisation can not determine

unilaterally whether it is transparent, a consensus of

its stakeholders is needed.

The studyTo answer the question of what charitable orga-

nisations do to obtain trust, I have performed a

qualitative study on 14 charitable organisations.

The findings have been mapped through semi-struc-

tured interviews. In addition to the qualitative study,

I have performed desk research. This research

consisted of studying the websites and annual

reports of the interviewed charitable organisations.

For the selection of the charitable organisations, the

representation of various sectors within the charita-

ble sector has been taken into account. The active

membership of the Physical Inventory Verification

(PIV) has been used as a starting point.

ConclusionsThe study leads to three conclusions. The first

conclusion is that charitable organisations use six

strategies to obtain trust from their stakeholders.

These are: 1) earmarked recruitment, 2) visibility/

name recognition, 3) connecting communication

to requirements, 4) effectiveness, 5) professional

organisation, and 6) transparency.

The second conclusion is that charitable organisati-

ons mainly focus on the trust factor ‘benevolence’.

Sponsors do find it important that charitable

organisations are competent and honest, but above

all they are interested in the good intentions of

the charitable organisations. The third conclusion

is that regulation does not contribute directly to

building trust. Regulation is, however, an important

condition for trust, a so-called ‘dissatisfier’. But

in order to really stand out in the world of charity,

the organisations must aim at benevolence and

competence. The younger generation of sponsors

is not sedentary and wants to be informed quickly

and succinctly. Communication should be adjusted

accordingly.

Suggestions for further researchAn interesting step for further research could be to

measure the results per strategy. At this point it is

not entirely clear to what extent each strategy in-

fluences trust. This research could be accomplished

through a survey among sponsors.

The identified strategies also feature several

elements that need to be examined. The effects

of a trademark for example have not been further

elaborated. The general impression is that a trade-

mark should be provided, but it is not necessarily a

prerequisite for trust.

Further research could also be done on the effects

of the trust factors within the different types of cha-

rities. Literature does not show in which conditions

focus on any of the three trust factors is the most

effective. You may well ask whether integrity is more

effective in the health sector or in the international

aid sector. A further deepening hereof can be

realised through giving the trust factors a weighting

factor.

Another interesting aspect that emerged is the

allowed cost of a non-profit organisation. The cost

aspect is frequently named in relation to trust. It

is, however, not clear what is to be considered an

acceptable standard. The Wijffels code is a reasona-

ble guideline. However, the organisations that score

high within the boundaries of that code are often

reminded of that fact. Communicating the added

value of a professional organisation with paid staff

could maybe offer a solution.

Recommendations for charitable organisationsThe study shows that it pays for charitable organi-

sations to focus on the trust factors benevolence

and competence. These factors can be obtained

by implementing the six identified strategies: 1) ear-

marked recruitment, 2) visibility/ name recognition,

3) connecting communication to requirements, 4)

effectiveness, 5) professional organisation, and 6)

transparency. Furthermore it is apparent that pro-

fessionalising the organisation and the use of know-

ledge is a sustainable way to stand out. Although

it lies slightly beyond the boundaries of this study,

which focusses on mainly on charitable organisati-

ons, a recommendation to the entire philanthropic

sector could be made. Monitoring the sector could

enhance trust. However, it is important that this

monitoring also considers impact and social benefit

instead of focussing solely on output.

Confidence in ‘giving’

Jacco BarteldsJacco Bartelds (1974) is employed as communications advisor at the Ministry of General Affairs. In his

function as protocol project manager, he is responsible for the coordination of the public appearances of

the Prime Minister. Jacco holds a bachelor degree in facility management. After completing his studies,

he was employed in several facility organisations and the hospitality industry. In 2002 he made the tran-

sition to communications.

In addition to his employment, Jacco has been active member of the board of the Zeldzame Ziekten

Fonds. The Zeldzame Ziekten Fonds helps people with a rare disease. The organisation accomplishes this

by publicising unknown, rare diseases and by raising money for research.

In order to realize countless objectives for public benefit, Dutch society is increasingly dependent on the philanthropic sector.

This is mainly due to a diminishing government. The sector has entered into the Room for Giving covenant with the government,

wherein agreements are made for obtaining a better cooperation. An important conclusion of the covenant is that trust should be

enhanced through transparency and quality of supervision. This study will map out what charitable organisations do to obtain

trust from the public and how this relates to the literature on trust.

Jacco Bartelds


Via this thesis I would like to explore:

‘to what extent does public opinion have an

impact on the reputation of a company?’

To answer this question the cases Brent Spar,

Deepwater Horizon, Unit-linked insurances and

the bonus culture have been investigated via the

perspective of four different stakeholders that

have an impact on public opinion and reputation;

pressure/ protest groups, media, politicians and the

companies involved; Shell, BP as well as insurance

companies and banks.

According to different definitions of public opinion,

public opinion is about a collective of individual

views, attitudes and beliefs about a particular topic.

It is expressed by a large percentage of society that

turns into a debate on what a government should or

should not do. Public opinion forces governments

to act in a way that will satisfy the demands of that

large percentage of society. Taking a look at the de-

finition of public opinion and the one on reputation

you see there are many similarities as reputation is

about what we think of a company, about a person,

an object. It is a representation of the mind, it refers

to ‘what is generally said or believed about the abili-

ties, qualities etc. of somebody/something’.

After reviewing literature and studies on public

opinion and reputation it is quite logical that most

research on public opinion is done in the context

of public opinion and public policy and less in the

context of a company and its market position. The

opinion of the public may force politicians to intro-

duce new legislation and regulation, and the opinion

of a large group of people may affect the reputation

of a company, but new laws say nothing on how the

public thinks about a company.

New legislation may force a company to change its

way of doing business (so the company sticks to

the law), but it says nothing whatsoever about the

reputation of a company. You will see this in the four

cases. It is more than fair to say that the opinion of

the public has had an impact on Shell, BP, the insu-

rance companies and banks. It had an direct and in-

direct impact on their overall business strategy and

their communication strategy. But the difference

between the four cases is that what happened with

the Brent Spar and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill

were more or less stand-alone cases. In 1995 Shell

revealed their plan to sink the oil storage and tanker

loading buoy Brent Spar in the sea. Greenpeace

objected to this plan as they feared it would set a

precedent for another 130 existing buoys. As a reac-

tion Greenpeace called for an international boycott

of Shell. In the Netherlands they used the campaign

‘the sea is not a garbage bag’ to promote this

boycott. The boycott made Shell change its plan for

the Brent Spar, as the whole episode had hurt their

reputation, it had hurt their license to operate.

BP did in fact the same. During Deepwater Horizon

they did not change their strategy on sealing off

the leaking well, but they did change their com-

munication strategy to make sure their reputation

did not get harmed even more. They changed their

communication strategy to make sure they still kept

their license to operate.

After these two crises were solved, politicians deci-

ded that new laws were needed to make sure what

had happened could not happen again.

The cases of unit-linked insurances and bonuses are

not stand alone cases. These are not cases that oc-

curred at just one insurance company, or at just one

bank. These are cases that occurred at all insurance

companies and all banks, it occurred at companies

active in the same line of business.

A car owner has the choice to drive by Shell and

look for another gas station to get gas. For a policy

holder it is more difficult to stand up and boycott

insurance company A and change their insurance

policy to company B, or to close their bank account

and open a new one at a different bank.

Due to this reason insurance companies and banks

felt less hurried to change their way of doing

business, the disagreement of the public had less

impact on their license to operate. In these kind of

cases public opinion is therefore needed to create

new regulation and legislation and to force to chan-

ge via new laws.

The four cases may show that the opinion of the

public had an impact on the companies.

But the central question is ‘to what extent does

public opinion have an impact on the reputation of

a company?’

In its given definition ‘public opinion is about a

collective of individual views, attitudes and beliefs

about a particular topic. It is expressed by a large

percentage of society that turns into a debate on

what a government should or should not do’ it does

not have a firm impact on a company’s reputation.

Public opinion may have an impact on a company,

as due to public opinion new regulation is intro-

duced and they have to change their way of doing

business. But new regulation says nothing about

the reputation of a company, it will not change the

reputation of a company.

To what extent does publ ic opinion have an impact on the reputation of a compan y?

Marjolein BijsterveldMy communication career started in 1999, when I created a new communication stream between the

Netherlands and the USA for a scientific publishing house. Creating something new runs like a thread

through my resume, creating new products, processes, communication strategies and even new commu-

nication departments. My curious nature has taken me through a variety of businesses, apart from the

scientific publishing business I have worked in telecom, finance, automotive and in the oil & gas industry.

Each business provided me with insights into people’s reaction on various types of communication, and

this aspect is what is the most appealing to me in the profession of communication: how a company can

use communication to its advantage, internally as well as externally.

Over the last decades the accessibility of information on a company has increased tremendously and the perception towards companies

has become more critical, making companies more vulnerable.Men and women on the street not only voice their concerns about a

topic or company throughpoliticians, claiming to represent the public interest, or through the activist initiatives of nongovernmental

organisations (NGO) who claim to act on behalf of ‘the public’ (Van Riel and Fombrun, 2007). Nowadays men and women on the

street increasingly claim their own vision on a topic or company and spread that opinion themselves.

Marjolein Bijsterveld


The central research question of this thesis is:

How can lobbyists working for an industry with a

negative reputation align the interests of the firms

they represent with the interests of governments

and other regulators?

According to stakeholder integration theory firms

can strive for competitive advantage in building

relationships with stakeholders they depend upon in

four different styles:

• Buffering

• Co-optation

• Mutual learning

• Meta problem solving”

(Heugens, et al., 2002)

The case study intends to reveal how lobbyist in

the tobacco industry apply the above mentioned

stakeholder integration techniques, which work

well and which don’t and why?

The case study: Tabaknee.nlThe foundation for youth smoking prevention

(Dutch: Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd) aims to

make people stop with smoking. The website is

divided into several elements. One of them is a page

called ‘People behind the tobacco lobby’. People,

lobbyists but also members of the government,

researchers etc. are placed on this website with

a picture and a little story about the reason why

these people are ‘supporters of smoking’. For this

thesis it is an interesting website, because it shows

how sensitive this industry is in the eyes of other

stakeholders. It shows directly what the influences

of reputation and public image can be if (it seems

that) you have strong ties with the tobacco industry.

Based on the key notions described in literature

about stakeholder integration interviews were done

among lobbyists of the industry, lobbyists of other

industries, spokespersons and spin-doctors but also

with journalists, I have asked questions about their

daily jobs and how they would prefer their relations

with other stakeholders. Based on the interviews,

I was able to describe the four stakeholder types

in the context of the anti-tobacco case. Two stake-

holder integration types were already executed by

lobbyists in this industry.

Buffering: There are different organizations where

tobacco companies are united. These organizati-

ons do act as a lobby club for the interests of the

complete tobacco industry. The different tobacco

companies use buffering as a strategy to build

strategic alignment between them and the spin-

doctors. However, where for other industries buffe-

ring might be an advantage, for the tobacco industry

this might be opposite because of the negative

reputation of the Tobacco industry.

Mutual learning: There is no mutual learning

between the lobbyists and the ministries.

However, the lobbyists do feel that they are learning

from the Ministry. So it’s not mutual, but we can

speak of learning here. The tobacco industry is

taking the interests of the spin-doctor into account.

In their eyes a strategic alignment based on this

strategy and from both sides implemented, would

be ideal.

Two types did not exist yet:Co-optation: There is a wish from the tobacco

industry to co-optate more with the ministries in

general and with the spin-doctors specific. However,

based on these interviews, the lobbyists do not think

that a spin-doctor would see the same advantage

in this co-optation as they do. In the eyes of the to-

bacco industry, a strategic alignment based on this

strategy, would be ideal.

Meta problem solving: The tabaknee.nl case has

three main stakeholders, namely the government,

the tobacco industry and the anti-tobacco organiza-

tions. Based on this research, it seems that the to-

bacco industry wants to strengthen (or develop) the

ties between the other stakeholders but the others

do not respond positively to it. Lobbyists think there

is much to gain by investing in a cooperative relati-

onship and solving key problems together, however,

because of their negative frame and reputation, the

tobacco industry thinks the other parties don’t have

the same wish. In the eyes of the tobacco industry,

a strategic alignment based on this strategy, would

be ideal.

By interviewing the professionals, combining that

with the existing literature and my own experiences,

I found out that lobbyists of an industry that has a

negative image can use two key success indicators

in order to reach their goals. These success indi-

cators are: Building a strong and relevant network

and provide added value to key decision makers. In

order to implement these key success indicators, a

lobbyist:

• should know who the key players are in order to

build a relationship with them;

• needs to create a professional relationship that is

focused on the interests of the company;

• is trustworthy;

• needs to know the needs of the key decision

makers in order to provide added value to them;

• needs access to the companies information sour-

ces in order to provide added value;

• should have great bargain skills to create a deal

that feels like a win-win situation.

For lobbyists, it is also important to know what

they definitely should not do. There are two

important failure indicators, namely manipulation

of information and discrimination in providing >>

Lobbyists and Spin - doctors, Enemies or friends?

Eline A.M. Bijveld

Lobbying for industries with a negative reputation among governments is quite a challenge. This thesis analyses the causes of

these problems in two steps. Firstly, an extensive literature study has been done, using especially Stakeholder Integration theory

(Heugens et al. 2002), Molenbeek (2008) about Spin-doctoring, Korsten about Lobbying (2009) and Adèr about Media (2009). Secondly, I did a case study on the tobacco industry. I selected

this industry because of the negative image of this industry. The so-called tabaknee.nl case is investigated with in-depth

interviews among spin-doctors, lobbyists and journalists.


Eline A.M. BijveldEline Bijveld is a 23 years old strategic Public Affairs advisor at 9292|REISinformatiegroep b.v. She is

responsible for strategic PA and PR and works in The Hague and Brussels. An interesting and fast moving

environment where corporate communications play a huge role.

This crossroads between Public Relations and Public Affairs is also visible in her Master thesis, where

she investigated the key success indicators for spin-doctors and lobbyists. Stakeholder Alignment bet-

ween these groups appears to be of high relevance.

At january 2015, Eline will switch jobs to Hill and Knowlton, an international PR-firm focused on Public

Affairs, corporate- and crisis communication.

information, and building relationships that are not

voluntary by for example blackmailing.

An important key player for the lobbyist is the

spin-doctor. A spin-doctor is namely responsible

for the development and protection of the reputation

of the decision maker (Minister or prime Minister).

A spin-doctor has power because of its strategic

position in the Ministry. Therefore, it is important

for the lobbyist to have a good relationship with this

spin-doctor in order to gain access to the decision

maker, even if he works for an industry with a nega-

tive reputation.

First, it is important that a lobbyist knows what the

success indicators for a spin-doctor are. These are

institutional knowledge and controlling the media

agenda. In order to completely benefit from these

success indicators, a spin-doctor:

• has access to institutional knowledge by its own

knowledge or knowing someone who has;

• needs to be able to connect important informa-

tion to others, otherwise a spin-doctor will never

be able to profit from the institutional knowledge;

• should be a powerful argumentator in order to

convince journalists, decision makers and

colleagues/competitors of its right;

• should build a strong network with journalists;

• should be able to strategically use the toolbox

of a spin-doctor: leaking, framing and

interpretation;

• should always care for the relevance and news

value of the information he or she provides to

the media;

The failure indicators that would make a spin-doctor

an amateur would be disloyalty to the decision

maker and crossing the line between providing sub-

jective information or lies to journalists.

This research was based on lobbyists working for an

industry with a negative reputation. To prove that

empirically, a case study on the tobacco industry is

done. There are differences and similarities between

lobbyists of the tobacco industry and other indus-

tries with a negative reputation. Taking all these

similarities into account, my vision on this topic is

that the key success indicators (and failure indica-

tors) count for all lobbyists working for industries

with a negative reputation. I do think however that

the more negative the reputation of the industry is,

the more important the key success indicators are

for lobbyists to influence decision making.

Manager communications

in an international organization: What

more is needed in this multicultural mix?

What kind of communication challenges do mana-

gers face in a multicultural work environment and

how do they deal with these challenges to build line

of sight, trust and engagement? That is the question

considered in this thesis.

To explore the existing research relative to this en-

quiry, a literature review covered the areas of mana-

ger communications, face-to-face communications,

intercultural employee contexts, employee line of

sight, employee trust and employee engagement.

Semi-structured, one-to-one, interviews were

then carried out with a purposive sample of nine

managers and nine reports, representing a variety

of intercultural manager-report combinations and

providing a sampling of employees throughout the

various areas of a Swiss international organization.

The purpose of the interviews was to delve deeper

into four sub-questions:

• What are the intercultural challenges that

managers face?

• To what extent do their communications in an

intercultural communications context >>

We are living in a world of rapidly expanding globalization. Among other things, this means a steadily growing interaction of

an increasingly wider variety of cultures. More and more employees are working in multicultural environments. But as anyone who has

worked in an international context knows, the dynamics within these organizations – in this “cultural mix” – are quite different from those

of a monocultural organization.

Marisa C. Bourtin


influence their reports’ line of sight?


intercultural communications context influence

their reports’ level of trust in the organization?


intercultural communications context influence

their reports’ level of engagement with the orga-

nization?

Once the interviews were completed and transcri-

bed, the grounded theory method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was used to analyze the collected data in

three steps: coding of variables, axial coding and

determining overarching themes.

The findings clearly showed that managers in an

international organization face two main challenges:

the language itself and differing, culturally-based

norms and values. These language-based challenges

were further divided into two sub-challenges: com-

plete and thorough language comprehension and

full understanding of various nuances of language.

While the challenges of culturally-based norms and

values were divided into two sub-challenges: norms

and values of working; and norms and values of

interacting.

In responding to these challenges, managers in an

intercultural organization have found various ways

to increase their reports line of sight, trust and en-

gagement. To build line of sight in an environment

where misunderstandings of various degrees are

a frequent occurrence, they use communication

governance and building a team-based line of

sight. To increase levels of trust when multicultural

opaqueness can sometimes cloud the setting, they

provide substantive managerial support and ensure

openness and transparency in their communica-

tions. And finally, to support engagement in an

environment with a culturally disparate group of

individuals, they create a personal connection based

on trust, clarity and caring and strive to understand

a report’s personal motivations and act accordingly.

On a theoretical level, this research contributes to

the understanding of the importance of manager

communications in an intercultural working en-

vironment. The results generally validate current

literature on the topics of employee line of sight,

trust and engagement, yet also extend this literature

by illustrating how each important managerial topic

is managed in a multicultural context. For instance,

while prior literature points to the importance of

communication in building engagement, my

findings show that in an environment of frequent

language and cultural misunderstandings, transpa-

rent and constant communication is, in fact, criti-

cal, and must be implemented in order to provide

continual clarification. Also, although openness and

transparency are certainly important in any type

of organization, in order to clarify issues that arise

when dealing with different cultures and a range

of different understandings, a real demonstration

of substantive managerial support is necessary to

build employee trust. Furthermore, with so many

disparate cultures interacting on a daily basis,

it seems that a report’s personal relationship with

their manager is even more important in an intercul-

tural environment than in a monocultural one. When

a report is floating in a sea of cultural interaction

and often, confusion, they rely on the manger to

provide their anchor.

On a managerial level, this research confirms the

important role of managers in building line of sight,

trust and engagement. The results of this study

indicate that in an intercultural organization it is vi-

tal to implement a strict communication governance

to combat the high level of misunderstandings that

naturally arise. Constant, clear communication is

the only way to clean the muddy waters. Furthermo-

re the findings not only affirm the vital importance

of the manager as a “pivot point” in

the organization, they show that in a multicultural

organization the manager-report relationship is

the key to building both trust and engagement.

Moreover, the findings clearly show that beyond

Marisa C. BourtinMarisa Bourtin is a communications professional with experience in a variety of international companies

and organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the

Bank for International Settlements (BIS). As a French-American dual national with a BA in Government

from Georgetown University, Marisa speaks three languages fluently and has lived in the United States,

Argentina, Brazil, Switzerland and France.

Currently residing in the tri-national frontier where the borders of France, Switzerland and Germany

converge, Marisa enjoys the challenges of creating expert communications in the midst of diverse cul-

tures. An experienced writer and editor, she has worked in both internal and external communications

and understands the importance of corporate identity and the value of delivering solid communication

products tailored to diverse audiences. A collaborative team player who enjoys building strong working

relationships in cross-functional environments, Marisa is a proactive self-starter with strong interpersonal

skills, high enthusiasm and motivation. She currently lives in a small Alsatian house with two teenagers

and a German Shepherd.

To contact Marisa, please visit her LinkedIn profile.


To be able to set goals and to improve results it has

to be clear which drivers influence these results.

What is strategic alignment, why it is important

and what are considered to be the success factors

of internal communications regarding strategic

alignment as described in academic literature?

What systems, internal communications/strategic

alignment measurements, KPI’s and ways of stan-

dard management reporting are currently used to

assess and to increase the effectiveness of internal

communication?

Successful implementation of strategyAcademic support can be found for the correlation

between strategic alignment and the higher chance

of successful implementation of a company’s

strategy; lower costs for attracting and retention

of employees and the positive impact on the repu-

tation of a company and the financial impact that

comes with it, including the market premium of a

company. Literature also shows that strategically

aligned employees are a great attribute for creating

and sustaining competitive advantage.

From studying the literature it becomes clear that

to be effective, internal communication has to

contribute to certain drivers or fields. Strategic

alignment measures the effectiveness of internal

communications and therefore must not only focus

on the general principles of effectiveness of internal

communication (like repetition, focus, quality of the

media and reach) but also on the fields it should

influence to be effective: strategic knowledge (inclu-

ding culture and values), company and leadership

trust, facilitating dialogue and an open, transparent

culture.

RemunerationOn the basis of my literature study I furthermore

concluded that working together with HR and lea-

dership is essential and this was confirmed by my

empirical research. The empirical research shows

that the effect of internal communication efforts

has its limits and therefore working together with

HR and business managers is extremely important.

Optimal effects are attained when remuneration is

dependent on internal alignment. Making internal

alignment part of remuneration is seen as being

highly effective.

My research into best practices of used KPI’s

and measurements shows that most of the used

KPI’s are focused on high level KPI’s on the un-

derstanding of and attitudes toward the strategy.

The measurements are mostly very practical and

concentrate on the effectiveness of the media by

looking at reach and impact characteristics and by

analyzing content in impact and focus in content.

My field research already indicated this would be

the case. The lesson learned from the field research

was that internal social media analysis could

perhaps fill this gap. I did not come across a better

research method than the Rep Trak Alignment

Monitor that links outcomes to drivers and makes it

possible to define more detailed KPI’s.

My empirical field research confirmed that not

applying ‘the full feedback loop’ from management

goals to collaboration between HR, Communication

and leadership and the remuneration of these par-

ties diminishes the degree to which measurements

can be valued or will lead to the right interventions.

This complies with one of the conclusions from my

literature study that reporting to management and

a closed feedback loop with measurements that are

linked to KPI’s are important to continuously impro-

ve and take the right interventions.

Complete the loopBased on literature study and empirical research I

distilled the most important steps that will contri-

bute in assessing and increasing internal strategic

alignment. I call this model ‘The Internal Strategic

Alignment Loop’. The model demonstrates what

steps have to be taken to complete the loop.

The Internal Strategic Alignment Loop In my thesis I applied the Internal Strategic Align-

ment Loop to the company I work for: KPN. Based

on my findings I made recommendations on all

aspects on how to assess and increase the effective-

ness of internal communication in creating strategic

alignment.

>>

The Internal Strategic Alignment Loop How to assess and in crease the effectiveness of int ern al communication in creating strateg ic a lignment

Internal strategic alignment has become increasingly important for companies. A turbulent environment asks for employees who

can act in line with the mission, vision and values of a company and therefore do not need exact instructions on how to operate. It also

asks for employees who despite the turbulence still understand the company’s strategy and are motivated to support it, resulting in

being more engaged and delivering better quality of work.

This is where internal communication can greatly contribute, and is as a consequence becoming more and more a vital function

in organizations. Having insights in the effectiveness of their interventions can help internal communications professionals

to steer their activities and be impactful.

Marion van Dam


Marion van DamMarion van Dam is Head of Internal Communication and Corporate Media at KPN, the largest IT and

telecom company in the Netherlands. She is an all-round communication professional and manager, with

30 years of experience in corporate communication and organizational change communication. During

her career she has gained experience on all aspects of corporate communication at listed companies such

as Heineken, Ahold, Delta Lloyd, KLM and KPN. She has a deep interest in corporate communication and

strives to be on the front line of new developments or to initiate these developments herself. Coaching

talented young people inspires her greatly. She is passionate about leadership communication, strategy

communication, crisis communication and the professional use of corporate and social media on a high

level for external and internal communication.

Studying at the Corporate Communication Centre of the Rotterdam School of management at Erasmus

University has been a privilege and a pleasure to her.

Marion has two sons (students) and loves all things Italian, travelling and EDM (electronic dance music).

Twitter: @marionvandam

LinkedIn: nl.linkedin.com/in/mjvandam

Measurement gapI recommend further research to fill the measure-

ment gap between (overall) alignment figures and

day-to-day interventions and opportunities to steer

alignment. Most of the used KPI’s are focused

on high level KPI’s on the understanding of and

attitudes toward the strategy. The measurements

are mostly very practical and concentrate on the

effectiveness of the media by looking at reach and

impact characteristics and by analyzing content in

impact and focus in content.

I also recommend research to see if the RepTrak

Alignment Monitor can be combined with employee

engagement research.

All this would most certainly mean a next step

on the road of the so called reputation journey as

described by the Reputation Institute, improving

cross-functional implementation and accountability.

The Internal Strategic Alignment Loop

Elections to the European

Parliament; Communicate or

PerishWhy should an institution communicate? Indeed, why should anyone communicate at all? It is a question that communicators have asked

ourselves since the beginning of our profession and is likely a question that will never be truly answered.

But this is the basis for this thesis where I ask the question about how the European Parliament could communicate towards

us citizens. This distinction is important because the European Parliament also engage in other type of communication, and this has

not been a part of this research.

The thesis “European Parliament – communicate

or perish” stands on several legs. I use existing

literature in institutional communication, public

policy and issues management. I also use research

on the recent European elections, and the materials

developed for the 2014 European elections by the

European Parliament Communications department.

The publicly available strategies developed by the

European Parliament Communications department

also form an ingredient in the thesis. I have conduc-

ted one in-depth interview.

I synthesize and integrate this literature and in-

terview and expand on one major point: European

Parliament communications towards us citizens.

As a result I have a identified a gap in the current

research for other researchers to build on and to

enhance theory building and research activities in

the area of political communications.

In this dissertation I have tried to close a gap in

the communications research on institutional com-

munications, the gap in political communications

between of pan-European communications and the

European Parliament.

This type of communication is an activity that spans

over several communications practices, notably:

institutional, public policy, corporate and issues ma-

nagement. It was some difficulties to find literature,

much of the literature in political communication

has national angles and/or looks at individual >>

Sara Magdalena Goldberger


Sara Magdalena GoldbergerSara Magdalena Goldberger is Swedish and is an expat since 1998 when she left her native Sweden

for Belgium.

During her long career in international corporate communications Sara has gained a broad spectrum

expertise from both the private and public sectors. The industry she is most familiar with is the ICT

industry, where she has worked with a variety of sectors e.g. e-commerce, cyber security and privacy.

Sara’s jobs have taken her over Europe and she has lived and worked in five countries. The past few

years Sara has been working at the European Parliament in Brussels.

political parties which makes it unsuitable for this

pan-European project. It is much the same with the

rest of the material.

With increasing powers to the European Parliament

and its elected members more decisions are moved

away from the national parliaments, so how the

European Parliament communicates is of increasing

importance. Why is this of any interest? And why

should this piece of research be done? Whatever one

thinks about the European construct, federalists or

non-federalist and everything in between, the Euro-

pean Parliament is the only directly elected body we

as Europeans have. It is also the only body we as EU

citizens can hold accountable for its actions which

is why the communications done by this body is of

utmost interest. In a period where the EU construct

is under heavy criticism and more and more feel

alienated with and left out of our society the EP

communication is of even more importance since

this is almost the only foundation on which we as

citizens can form our opinions. In other words it is

of utmost importance that the EP communications

is non-partisan and factual. Why? Not only because

it is a question of Parliament’s integrity but it is also

a question of citizen’s trust. Furthermore the EP in

itself is almost the only non-partisan information

source about the EP that we as EU citizens have

access to. We as citizens must be able to trust that

this information does not in any way or form try to

influence us and our stand-points. The fact that so

few citizens bothered to vote is not only due to that

the EP lacks branding and feels far away from us ci-

tizens, nor is it because there is a general downward

trend in voter turnout. I am convinced that one rea-

son for the low voter turnout is that the EP feels out

of touch with [our] reality and the communications

is so bland it doesn’t speak to us.

Corporate Messaging

about innovative technologies.

How to deal with complex topics?

I love to look for new possibilities to deal with sometimes contrasting emotions to connect people and inspire them to create sustainable

opportunities. This is also the challenge I see in the scientific, technological innovations that are difficult to explain. Something slight only has to go wrong or resistance be so strong that public

support can completely disappear. As in the case of shale gas, for example, or in medical innovations that cause ethical issues to

rear up. The question is: how can communication managers use corporate messaging to deal with this?

My thesis concerns the obstacles and incentives to

creating support among the general public in res-

pect of complex topics. The literature contains little

of note specifically on this area, so I have explored

this subject on the basis of the following research

question:

Which dimensions of sender, message and recei-

ver support mutual understanding between an

organisation and the general public in respect of

new, complex technologies?

The ultimate aim is to arrive at a set of managerial

guidelines that communication managers can use

for their corporate messaging when communicating

about complex technologies.

ResearchFrom theory through practice I have gone in search

of the answers. Firstly, I looked at the underlying

theories. My literature study brought me to a

valuable list of pragmatic points that should be

incorporated in the communication strategy >>

Ernestien (F.E.) Honning


for corporate messaging about complex technolo-

gies aimed at creating public support. In order to

get an overview of these theoretical assumptions,

I have used the well-known communication model

with the sender, message and recipient of Shannon

& Weaver of 1948 (Van Riel, 2012a).

From the theory I began to look at the practice. To

this end I selected twelve diverse assumptions for

a theory-building case study: what is it that we can

learn from the case histories concerning introduc-

tions of complex technologies? For this qualitative

research I described and then analysed four cases:

the addition of fluoride to drinking water (1946-1976), the transgenetic bull Herman (1990-1996), the storage of CO2 in Barendrecht (2007-2010) and

finally the introduction by ING of big data (2014). The sources of information were articles from new-

spapers and journals along with online news items

concerning the Dutch context of the case. These

public sources provide an impression of the public

opinion. Using the case descriptions, the reasons

for success or failure were examined as well as how

this can be linked to the twelve selected assump-

tions. This resulted in lessons learned from both a

theoretical and case-historical perspective, lessons

that are, one for one, pragmatic communication tips

for corporate messaging in communicating about

the diffusion of complex technologies.

Building trust by using the Basic Blocks of Complex Communication.The results of my research suggest that the com-

munication of complex topics is a complex process

in which it is crucial to build trust. My recommen-

dation is therefore to ensure that people trust in

a complex technology and feel that it is theirs.

And making it theirs is, in fact, all about bringing

an innovation closer in order to develop a mutual

understanding between an organisation and the

general public.

While the results of the case study cannot be fully

generalised, I have developed the Basic Blocks of

Complex Communication on the basis of the lessons

learned. It is a valuable initial step towards a practi-

cable management tool for the corporate messaging

of complex topics.

Sender

• Use the Alignment Factor steps as valuable

preparation.

• Be conscious of the effects of reputation and

build trust.

• Look at how you can establish your cooperation

strategy (if needed).

• Develop communication strategy for interperso-

nal networks.

• Use all aspects of rhetoric: logos, pathos and

ethos.

Message

• Use client orientation and empathy geared to

heart and mind.

• Seek a connection with emotional and fast thin-

king.

• Check which information is also required: evalua-

tion-information, innovation characteristics.

• Analyse the route for information processing +

which associations.

• Make conscious choices in timing, framing, sto-

ries and formulation.

Recipient

• Make conscious choices in stakeholder priorities.

• React to resistance in a conscious way.

• Know that media are mirrors and that social

media can generate impact.

• Be open to learning as an organisation; also in

respect of consequences.

• Do not start building a relationship at the end,

but start with alignment.

The Basic Blocks of Complex Communication

provide a quick overview of key points as a kind

of checklist in communicating about innovations.

Courage and confidence in the power of innovation

are by themselves not enough. The right prepara-

tion and making well-considered choices based

on theoretical concepts are essential for such a

complex process as the introduction of complex

technologies. The interests, investments and years

Ernestien (F.E.) Honning“I love nothing more than searching for new possibilities.

To connect people and to inspire them.”

Ernestien Honning (1972) is strategic and creative. She is an authority on communication to children

and young people. Communication advisor for geology, energy and sustainability. And the creative brain

behind campaigns for Accenture, CliniClowns and Pharma Bio Research.

Ernestien has followed her own route to building up her knowledge and experience: a Bachelor in Cre-

ative Communication extended with a course in Concept Development and now a Master in Corporate

Communication, for which she made a study of corporate messaging for complex or contentious innovati-

ons. These studies are complemented by 10 years of professional experience as a copywriter for various

Amsterdam-based agencies, 4 years as a communication advisor at TNO and 7 years as an independent

consultant for a nice mix of satisfied customers.

For companies that face new challenges, Ernestien couples a fresh strategic perspective with pragma-

tism. Her personal approach, creativity, talent for writing and engagement are key factors here. Outside

her work, Ernestien revels in the small Marie-Julie together with her beloved Eltjo and is a fan of GIJS,

food and all kinds of sustainable, local initiatives.

nl.linkedin.com/in/ernestien

[email protected]

of research that go with innovations are, after all,

substantial.

The futureWhat does this imply for the future? How much

resistance can the Basic Blocks of Complex

Communication prevent? Qualitative research can

check the results of the lessons learned against the

introduction of a new innovation as well as my vision

of the theory. It would also be interesting to probe

further into a case to look more closely at ethical

alignment or fear. We have no crystal ball but we

can prepare ourselves well and give innovations a

helping hand through corporate communication

with strategic corporate messaging. This is where

a follow-up study can contribute. Ultimately, it is

about creating public support and working together

to get developments moving ahead.


Food safety is a growing global concern and impacts

both consumers and businesses worldwide. While

much of the world’s food supply is safe, recent

high profile cases underline the potential danger

of food-borne illnesses to consumers. These food

related diseases affect tens of millions of people,

kill tens of thousands each year and cause billions

of dollars in healthcare-related and industry costs

annually. Extended global supply chains and lack

of adequate control mechanisms may be some of

the key reasons. Up until a few decades ago, govern-

ment agencies were responsible for monitoring

food safety standards. Third-party certification is

emerging as a prominent and influential regulatory

mechanism in both the public and private spheres

of the global food supply chain. FSSC 22000 is

one of these leading global food safety certification

schemes.

By achieving certification against FSSC 22000

organizations demonstrate to their employees and

customers that food safety is important within the

organization and that they are aware of current food

safety issues. However, there may still be incidents

where a serious food safety related crisis occurs at a

site holding a certificate from FSSC 22000. There-

fore, the objective of this research was to establish

a crisis communication response strategy that FSSC

22000 may apply, while experiencing a food safety

related crisis involving a FSSC 22000 certified

organization, in a way that protects its reputation.

With the results of this research, FSSC 22000 will

be able to develop a crisis communication plan, that

provides a hands-on guide on responding to a crisis

involving an organization that is certified against the

FSSC 22000 standard.

Response StrategiesIn general, a crisis can be defined as a serious event

that potentially negatively affects an organization

and/or its stakeholders if the situation is not hand-

led properly. Crisis communication represents the

actual responses an organization uses to address

the crisis and have both verbal and nonverbal

aspects. The moment a crisis hits, corporate repu-

tation is under threat. From the perspective of FSSC

22000 a crisis as outlined in the research question

is an unintentional event that an external agent tries

to label as a crisis. Several researchers suggest that

the right crisis communication response strategy

applied to a crisis of this specific type, can restore

stakeholder trust and confidence and protect corpo-

rate reputation.

The literature review proves that there are two most

important determinants on the effectiveness of an

organizations’ response statement in relation to

corporate reputation: expression of sympathy and

admittance of responsibility. These two determi-

nants are interlinked. An organization’s response to

a crisis can be more effective in producing a favora-

ble effect from stakeholders when the statement of

sympathy is combined with a statement of respon-

sibility, compared to the statement of responsibility

without any sympathetic expression.

ExperimentTo examine the effect of different responses on

FSSC 22000s reputation, an E. coli infection was si-

mulated to induce feelings in participants sampled

from Licensed Certification Bodies, one of FSSC

22000s primary stakeholder groups. This fictional

crisis was caused by Horizon Meat Corp., a fictional

company, due to a violation of its internal food

safety management requirements. Horizon Meat

Corp. achieved certification against FSSC 22000.

The experiment contained a fictional news article

that portrayed the incident, response statements,

and an online survey. A total of 142 respondents

read the fictional news article and read one of four

different response statements as a combination of

responsibility admittance (active versus passive)

and sympathetic expression (high versus low).

ResultsThis research suggests that the way FSSC 22000

responds to a food safety related crisis at a certified

organization has little effect on the way FSSC

22000, as the scheme owner, is perceived by its

Licensed Certification Bodies. For all of the four

groups there was a positive effect on reputation,

meaning that FSSC 22000s response statement po-

sitively influenced its reputation. After reading the

NYT news article, the average value of reputation

was well above the midpoint on the 5-point Likert

scale. This improved for all groups after reading the

response statements. Both High Sympathy respon-

ses had a stronger positive effect on reputation than

both Low Sympathy responses. The strongest (po-

sitive) effect on reputation was induced by a High

Sympathy/Passive Responsibility response. The

weakest (positive) effect on reputation was induced

by a Low Sympathy/Active Responsibility response.

Protecting Re putation During a Crisis

J eroen P hilip JongelingJeroen Jongeling (1974) is a seasoned communication professional with more than 15 years of experien-

ce in the field of stakeholder management, issues management and public affairs. Over the years Jeroen

was hired by clients in a variety of industries to oversee projects on three different continents. In 2007

he founded a communication and PR agency specialized in working for nonprofit organizations, within

the already existing organization of Atrium groep. Since then he holds the position of managing director

of the agency. He advises clients in strategic issues and designs and executes public affairs and issues

management strategies to be implemented with a dedicated team of professionals.

In this role, Jeroen is currently also responsible for managing the global brand and communication

program of the Foundation for Food Safety Certification, the world’s third largest food safety management

certification system. The thesis ‘Protecting Reputation During a Crisis’ was made largely possible by his

involvement with this organization.

Establishing a crisis communication response strategy in a way that protects corporate reputation.

“Expression of sympathy and admittance of responsibility are key determinants of the effectiveness of an organizations’ response

statement in relation to its reputation”

Jeroen Philip Jongeling


For NN Group, it has been a bumpy road in the last

years, and 2014 does not look any smoother. ING

Group will continue to work on several restructuring

plans in the coming period and continues preparati-

ons for a standalone future of the European Insuran-

ce/Investment Management businesses.

Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that

employees are engaged and stay focused on their

day-to-day business in order to successfully change

its culture and realize the needed strategic change

as NN Group is preparing for a standalone future of

the European Insurance/IM businesses. Regardless

of the outcome of the overall divestment process,

this will ensure success for ING.

My research has shown that all respondents (ma-

nagers and employees) found focus decisiveness

and honesty most important to the role of a leader.

Trust and honesty was seen as the most important

characteristics of the team manager. All participants

mentioned trust and honesty as key. It all starts with

trust. If there is no trust there is no relationship.

Most participants mentioned trust, focus, clarity

and open and honest communication as the most

important thing they need from their (Senior)

manager in times of change. Employees desire

trust, timely, honest, transparent communication,

with no hidden agendas especially during time of

change. Some employees also found it important

to have more interaction with and support from

their manager in times of change. It seems people

management is now the most important aspect of

the job of a manager, even more important than the

normal day-to-day activities.

Companies that continue to take a tactical, short-

term approach to communicating with key constitu-

encies will find it increasingly difficult to compete.

Developing an integrated, strategic approach to

communications will be critical to success.

Lesson 1: Senior managers must be involved.

The CEO and other top leaders, including the CFO,

must understand the importance of communication

and leverage communications strategically with all

their constituents.The Management Board within

ING Insurance are not visible enough and therefore

effective communication cannot happen. They iso-

late themselves both physically and psychologically

from other employees on the 8th floor in ING

House which is prohibited for unauthorized

employees. Communication from the Management

Board to all employees can sometimes be seen as

faceless and not sincere as no or little upward

communication exists.

To accomplish this, the current role of

Communications should change as well.

First of all, senior management should recognize

the philosophy that ‘Employees will perform better

when top management shows a leadership vision

that is inspiring’. Much of the content is about ‘we’

topics, or the nature and purpose of the organiza-

tion and its mission. The climate, therefore, has to

be open-minded, a place where employees feel that

they can co-design a strategy and its implementati-

on. As a consequence, employees should be made

to feel that they are taken more seriously than is

needed in other organizational types.

Lesson 2: Communications must be integrated

The slogan ‘You matter’, introduced in November

2013, which together with the new brand, has been

communicated to internal and external audiences

without a proper introduction.

As this communication has not been integrated with

real proof points employees do not feel that they

matter to the NN Group organization as nothing has

been changed internally since the slogan and brand

has been introduced. Therefore it is seen as

an empty promise.

Lesson 3: Structural integration of communications

Internal communication should increases trust

in management and results in a higher degree of

Organizational Identification and it decreases self

confidence with individuals.

Lesson 4: Communications must have a long-term orientation.

It has been suggested that the most enduring com-

panies are those that focus on the long term, have

a strong set of values and are proactive rather than

reactive in communicating.

ING Insurance/IM is in the process of building

a strong, stand-alone company that cares for its

customers, employees and investors.

All communication and activities are aimed to be-

come IPO ready; ready to go to market in 2014. NN

Group wants to build a strong, stand-alone company

that cares for its customers, employees and inves-

tors. This is a clear statement; yet, it is not clear

to employees what kind of company ING Insurance

wants to become after the IPO.

>>

What is the effect of Senior Management of ING Insurance / Investment Management on the overall enga gement in times of organizational cha nge?

In times of change (or crisis), such as today, there is a great need for strong leaders. This requires someone who is leaping ahead: a leader. Others must

accept, because a leader requires that other people voluntarily follow.

Annemarie Jongepier


Annemarie JongepierI completed my Bachelor in Business Communication in 2002. I have over 10 years of working

experience in the fields of internal communication, project communication and change communication.

I have great experience with leading and executing various (big change) projects such as Readiness

(split up Bank and Insurance within ING) and the communication around the split up of ING Real Estate.

Cultural change is thereby of great importance. In all these projects connecting, informing and motivating

employees is key.

What concerned me during all these change projects is how to engage employees even during tough

times. Employees are the most value assets of a company.

My thesis reflects my passion for change, leadership and employee engagement. The International

Master of Corporate Communication was a great learning experience which gave me a lot of insight.

I recently started as Internal Communications Specialist at Royal Philips in Amsterdam.

I live together in Leidschendam with Alex and our son Thijs (6).

Lesson 5: Top communicators must have broad general management skills.

All too often, the corporate communications

function is a dumping ground for tactical managers

who are uncomfortable with the quantitative skills

needed for success in other functions. However,

effective communications professionals are those

who speak the same language as senior executives

and have a deep understanding of the business and

its strategy.

Crisis Communication

through Social Media / Learnings

from the Costa Concordia, MH370

and MH17 crisisChristoph Lergenmueller

In the landscape of social media the Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT), developed by Coombs (2008) and

oriented on crisis communication on traditional media, is still a valid and useful guiding framework for organizations struck by a crisis.

This structure allows organizations to communicate strategically with their stakeholders in the time of a crisis. Nevertheless, the model

needs to be extended to suit today’s social media landscape.

Today the relevance of social media has emerged

from its origin as a tool to get in touch with friends

on a private basis to one of the most frequently used

communication channels for organizations, news

and the public. Additionally, du to the increase in

reach, the trustworthiness as well as the credibility

of social media as an information source has incre-

ased (Kavanaugh et al. 2012). These developments

require that organizations have to develop an effec-

tive crisis communication strategy for social media

channels.

Based on the widely acknowledged Situational

Crisis Communication Theory, by Timothy Coombs

(2008), a qualitative case study, this research

analyzes three different real life crisis scenarios

with the goal of revealing how effective crisis

communications in the current social media

landscape needs to be executed.

After analyzing the common literature on crisis

communication with a special focus on Coombs´

SCCT and social media the three cases are >>


evaluated using the SCCT as a conceptual looking

glass. The result of the multiple case study research

is a detailed analysis of the crisis communication

on social media by the corporations by investiga-

ting, how the crisis communication on Facebook

develops over the course of a crisis and analyzing

interactions between organizations and the user

ommunity on Facebook..

According to the research, the SCCT can still be

understood as the theoretical, evidence proved

effective framework to strategically shape responses

to the challenges a crisis poses to an organization’s

reputation of an organization. Even nowadays SCCT

allows a crisis team to align the specific situation

with an adequate response. Coombs´ SCCT is a par-

tially rudimental foundation for crisis communicati-

on, as the framework does not take in consideration,

that social media has a sustainable impact on crisis

communication by lifting the crisis communication

on a new level and conveying moods, emotions and

perceived responsibilities amongst stakeholders.

Therefor social media calls for an adaption and

extension of Coombs´ framework.

All cases, which are part of the research, show

similar influencing factors, which may be attributed

to the chosen media channel, Facebook. Some of

these factors are not being considered by Coombs.

The findings indicate that Coombs´ model needs

to be developed incorporating social media, paying

tribute to the technical possibilities to react timely

and comprehensively, and to start a dialog directly

with the corporations´ stakeholders.

Stakeholders are demanding full coverage of honest

information from the very beginning and information

updates throughout the whole crisis. They are

expecting that the organization takes responsibility,

at least in regard of protecting victims and relatives

from further damage at an very early point of the cri-

sis. To fulfill these expectations organizations need

to focus on a timely reaction.

The direct link to the stakeholders sheds a new

light on the role of emotions in crisis communica-

tion, which should be more intensively taken into

consideration by the SCCT. Terms such as “likes”,

“friends” etc. which are constituent characteristics

for Facebook, point out that not the crisis itself

triggers emotions but also the media Facebook is an

emotional platform. How to deal with these emoti-

ons is one of the many challenges if using Facebook

in crisis communications.

Going in hand with the two-way communication the

model also needs to consider that social media can

be used as a monitoring tool to grasp the perceived

responsibility for a crisis in the eyes of the stakehol-

ders, which may rapidly change on the background

of the ubiquitous media attracting supporters and

opponents of a corporation. Additionally the eventu-

ally changing attitude in the Facebook community

may be perceived by the crisis team early in the

crisis and can be handled proactively.

The proposed recommendations for crisis

communication are:

• developing a crisis communication plan with a

special focus on social media,

• planning to react timely with the focus on strate-

gic aspects of the responses,

• responding directly, using the opportunities for a

two-way communication,

• honestly and adequately addressing emotions,

• scanning reactions and changing attitudes and

adapting responses to changing, communication

style and content,

• always react strategically, being aware of the

close relation between perceived, responsibility

by stakeholders and responses (SCCT).

Christoph LergenmuellerChristoph (1988) works for Weber-Stephen Deutschland GmbH, Central Europe branch of the

Weber-Stephen Products LLC, the cult brand and the world’s premier manufacturer of charcoal,

gas and electric grills and grilling accessories. Being responsible for external communication such as

marketing campaigns, the corporation’s public and blogger relations and social media appearance, as

well as creative projects such as all motion pictures projects, Christoph could gather a wide and profound

facet of expertise in the field of brand management and external communication. His latest and must

acknowledged project was the 2014 football world cup campaign with football world star and German

international Thomas Müller.

Christoph holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Business and Economics with a specialized focus on

/ a major in Marketing. Before working for Weber-Stephen, Christoph could gather a brought facet of

experiences trough different internships at Pall Corporation, a leading supplier of filtration, separation

and purification technologies, DB Schenker, the freight branch from Deutsche Bahn and market leader in

Germany, and working in a publishing firm. Having lived in the USA for almost two years Christoph was

able to enrich his international cross cultural experiences and language skills.


Technology has enabled us to interact, innovate,

share knowledge and develop collaborative meaning

and sensemaking in whole new ways. This growing

interconnectedness between individuals through

technology offers great opportunities as well as

serious challenges within organizations to create,

maintain and develop meaningful connections and

conversations between employees and stakeholders.

Main questionThe impact of employees and their communication

‘power’ on building or breaking reputations has

increased in a network society. However, literature

is not really clear on what tools and management

interventions are effective in developing employees’

supportive behaviour in building reputations, espe-

cially in a network society with fundamentally chan-

ged wants, needs and expectations of stakeholders.

The objective of this thesis is to develop a better

understanding on how the characteristics of the

network society can be used and integrated effecti-

vely in enabling employees to act as ambassadors of

the organizations’ reputation. In a network society,

how can leaders create a stimulating environment

for employees to become ambassadors of the orga-

nizations’ reputation?

Main dimensions on which organizations are changingThis thesis explored through literature study the

main characteristics of the network society, the

importance of employees as reputation enforcers

in a network society and theories explaining how

Reputation Building Behaviour can be enhanced.

Four dimensions were distinguished from my litera-

ture study on which organizations are changing from

more traditional to more networked organizations as

a result of the shift towards a network society:

1. Power structures

2. Stakeholder communication

3. Autonomy support

4. Product & services development

Case study approachThree organizations, Salesforce, ISS Facility

Services and Zeiss were researched through a case

study approach to develop a deeper understanding

on how and to which extent leaders are steering

on the more network or traditional society characte-

ristics within these four dimensions and how

this impacts and stimulates employees to show

Reputation Building Behaviour.

FindingsWithin the four dimensions I found in total 6

aspects that are real differentiators in steering

and facilitating employees to act as ambassadors,

leading to the following grounded model.

Empowering structures:1. Top-down shared clarity and transparency

on vision, goals and expectations

2. Centrally developed tools to unlock and share

information and knowledge in a structured way

Stakeholder engagement:3. (online) Platforms and tools to share, contribute,

participate and add value to the conversation

4. Active, visible executive team

Autonomy support:5. Stimulating pro-activeness and self-determination

Product and services implementation:6. Engaging in long-term relationships at all levels

>>

Employees as rep utation enforcers /How can employee s be facilitated to act as ambassadors in a Network Society?

Who can better defend and build a corporate reputation than those who work for your company? In a network society it becomes more

and more essential to facilitate employees at all levels to engage with stakeholders, add value to the conversation and challenges

stakeholders are facing. Stakeholder perceptions of actual company behaviour are nowadays the lead driver of enterprise value, of reputa-tion. They no longer believe the ‘stories’ and promises developed and

carefully orchestrated by the corporate communication department.

Marlies Maasdam

Grounded model explaining differentiating

dimensions and aspects to steer on in

facilitating employees as

reputation enforcers


Marlies MaasdamMarlies works as a managing partner of a boutique consulting company, offering customized perspectives

and practical tools to leaders, management teams in aligning corporate strategy with individual ambitions

and talents. Marlies is passionate about creating an environment together with leaders and team mem-

bers to commit themselves to the strategy and ambitions they want to realize and to support each other in

realizing these ambitions.

Marlies has an extensive background in leading and facilitating leadership teams and individuals in

strategy and leadership development, in organizational consulting to increase (strategy) commitment and

alignment within and across teams. She has held various (interim) management positions, initiating and

directing strategic change projects and developing high performing teams in challenging and demanding

business environments.

Marlies works for a variety of private and public organizations in a wide range of sectors and geographies

and holds two Bachelor degrees in Education and International Business and Management. She is also

a certified facilitator and coach. Studying at Erasmus University has brought Marlies new insights on rele-

vant organizational and corporate communication topics. She is able to apply these insights directly in

her work with regards to the organizational challenges her clients are facing, especially in the more and

more networked society.

Theoretical contributionWhile prior literature remains silent on the changing

role and growing importance of leadership in net-

worked organizations, leadership and more specific

the role of top-management can be an important dif-

ferentiator in the success of developing employees’

supportive behaviour in building reputations:

• in being absolutely open and transparent with

regards to their own vision, targets, goals and

the way they want to achieve these targets;

• in being visibly and actively involved in the

day-to-day business on the inside and outside

in a transparent and open way;

• in repeating what the focus should be,

even more in networked organizations.

Another finding contributing to prior literature on

network societies is that hierarchies truly disappear

in developing new ideas, new ways of thinking and

building long-term relationships with stakeholders.

Finally, with the growing complexity of society and

organizations, stakeholders expect partnerships and

expect ‘integrated solutions’. This advances existing

literature in the sense that self-determination, sen-

segiving and sensemaking processes become more

relevant at all levels in organizations in the network

society.

Managerial implicationsIn the transition to become a more network oriented

organization, in empowering employees to actively

engage and contribute in finding new answers to

the challenges of their most relevant stakeholders,

I would advise organizations to first develop and

implement online tools and platforms. Online tools

and platforms are essential in facilitating employees

to act as reputation enforcers in a more and more

networked society. In order to stay relevant for

stakeholders and engage in long-term relationships

I believe that online tools and platforms will beco-

me a hygiene factor, a necessity in unlocking and

sharing knowledge and information, in contributing,

participating and adding value to conversations

on relevant topics for stakeholders, for clients. In

finding new solutions in a collaborative way, across

organizational boundaries. I strongly believe that if

organizations who are still more ‘traditional orien-

ted’ don’t invest and make the transition to a more

‘network oriented’ organization on the dimensions

and aspects I distinguished - even organizations

with a long history and a strong reputation - will

sooner or later go down instead of up.

High Performance Communications

Departments

The main objective of this paper is to identify and explore the essential elements for the development of a High Performance

Communications Departments (HPCDs) which are able to constantly deliver successful communications programs positively impacting in

the development and maintenance of a good reputation.

Michelle Bernardo de Medeiros

Nowadays the importance of reputation for organi-

zation’s effectiveness is extensively studied in the

academic world, described in the business media

and experienced by executives in daily business.

Reputation management became an important

discipline and the understanding of mechanisms

that influence creation and maintenance of an

organizations’ reputation are more relevant than

ever in the modern business environment.

As we are evolving in the reputation management

discipline - defining criteria and paths for this

journey, evaluating and publishing rankings of

companies with best reputation - it is reasonable to

ask if the importance companies’ gives to commu-

nications and how those departments are structured

makes any difference in the in the orchestration of

reputation management inside corporations.

Having that question in mind and analyzing the

methods applied in traditional business to identify

characteristics of High Performance Organizations

(HPOs), we should be able to propose a set of best

practices in the corporate communications field.

Therefore, the central question of this thesis is

if by studying commonalities in structures,

competences, strategies and processes of com-

munication departments inside companies with a

proven record of good reputation we should be able

to define a framework able to transforming regular

communications departments into High Performan-

ce Communications Departments (HPCDs).

First it is needed to identify and define in which

areas we will be comparing the characteristics and

similarities among those companies with best repu-

tation. If we apply the equivalent broad spectrum

of patterns identified in HPOs (High Performance

Organizations) and assume they are also relevant in

HPCDs (High Performance Communication Depart-

ments) literature will points us to the following set

of values:

• people management and the need to have an

empowered and highly skilled team,

• systems and process to guarantee quality,

• structure and resources to delivery results,

• clear strategy and alignment with business goals.

>>


The central part of this thesis is a broad explorative

analysis which considers these four areas or drivers

of high performance listed above as starting points

of an extensive literature review concerning theories

of excellence in communications management,

these excellence characteristics were analyzed and

classified in the high performance drivers. The

literature review was also fundamental to corrobo-

rate the hypothesis that the four drives selected are

comprehensive enough and applicable to communi-

cations.

Based on the literature review, a categorization of

excellence theories and best practices is proposed

where the identified success factors are classified

and established as drivers of HPCD model, as in

explained in the following:

HPCD model: Driver 1 - Skills & CapabilitiesThis drive emphasizes the importance of constant

development of an efficient team with the right set

of profile, skills and capabilities, a strong fit in the

company’s culture, a deep understanding of com-

munications disciplines and business acumen that

leads to strategic thinking.

It analyses the potential of the communications

department as a dependency of professionalism

and qualification, meaning that “potential depends

in large part on the body of knowledge and profes-

sionalism that practitioners bring to bear on public

relations problems” and “practitioners with more

education in and knowledge of public relations are

more likely to be in the dominant coalition, to be in

the manager role, and to practice two-way symmetri-cal model of communication – all attributes of excel-

lent public relations” (Grunig, E. James, 1992:139)

For Joep Cornelissen (2004) “what people bring

to the communication job in terms of expertise,

competences and skills is a crucial element in the

effective functioning of corporate communication

and influences how corporate communication is

being seen by managers from other functions within

the organization”.

HPCD model: Driver 2 - Strategy & AlignmentThis drive emphasizes the need of communication

practice to be aligned with and contribute to the

corporate strategy with the purpose of building, pro-

tecting and maintaining the company’s reputation

by creating and retaining strategic partnerships and

delivering consistent messages across the company

and its strategic constituencies.

It reinforces the concept of strategic manage-

ment, implying that “if public relations makes

organizations more effective by building long-term

relationships with strategic constituencies, it is only

a small logical jump to deduce that public relations

must participate in the organization’s strategic

planning and that communication programs must

be managed strategically to have that effect”. (Grunig, 1992:117)

In addition, “companies that continue to take a

tactical short-term approach to communicating with

key constituencies will find it increasingly difficult

to compete. Developing an integrated, strategic

approach to communications will be critical to suc-

cess”. (Paul A. Argenti, Robert A. Howell and Karen A. Beck –2010)

HPCD model: Driver 3 - Structure & ManagementThis drive stresses the importance of having the

communication department properly structured

and situated inside the organization. This important

factor impacts on the reach of communication

effectiveness, also determining the level of strategic

contribution in the decision-making process and the

integration and alignment of communication.

The concept is widely discussed in the literature

which considers that “how companies organize

corporate communication is of crucial importance

to the strategic planning and coordination of

communication programmes towards different sta-

keholders. Organizations that have not adequately

organized their communication often send out

conflicting messages and fail to make a consistent

and strong impression on their stakeholders” (Joep Cornelissen, 2004).

Michelle B ernardo de MedeirosMichelle is a Public Relations professional with more than 15 years of experience in Latin America.

Michelle joined Roche Latin America in 2011 as Regional Director of Communications and has extensive

experience in the communications field both with corporate as well as agency.

Prior to Roche, Michelle worked with Intel Corporation as Public Relations Director for Brazil.

Michelle has held key communications roles in corporations such as Claro Telecom, Unibanco and

Hill & Knowlton, on the agency side. Michelle holds a bachelor degree in Social Communications from

FAAP (Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado) and a Post-Graduation, Marketing Communications from

ESPM (Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing)

HPCD model: Driver 4 - Process & ProceduresThis drive gather evidences that clarifying process

and protocols guarantees the quality of commu-

nications practice, promoting integration and impro-

vements. The documentation and standardization

of the communication process enables benchmarks

and sharing best practices, cost and timing reduc-

tions and also constant improvement. That process

includes the constant measurement and evaluation

of communications programs and activities.

Findings of the Excellence Study prepared by

the IABC (International Association of Business

Communicators) supports this general idea of the

importance of establishing and developing internal

process in communications and suggests that “eve-

ry public relations process, especially the technical

ones, should be improved constantly in an excellent

department” and that “public relations depart-

ments, like other organizational units, must develop

internal systems for implementing and monitoring

their activities. Planning, monitoring and

evaluating are as important for public relations

as for any organizational function”.

(Grunig, 1992: 244, 225)

With the conceptual framework defined a research

was conducted to assess its applicability, the main

goal was to compare the communications depart-

ments from 30 companies with best reputation

accordingly with “100 Global RepTrak™” from Re-

putation Institute, and determine their similarities

with the HPCD model.

Key Words: High Performance Communications

Departments, Excellence in communications ma-

nagement, Communications Skills & Capabilities,

Communications Strategy and Alignment, Commu-

nications Structure and Management and Communi-

cations Process and Procedures.


The success of Speeljetoekomst.nu seems to be

the result of the application of Gamification: the

use of game elements and game design techniques

in a non-game context. In Speeljetoekomst.nu game

elements like an avatar, feedback, a narrative,

a guide, challenges and rewards were used.

Being responsible for the Aegon brand in the

Netherlands, I was surprised by this results and it

made me wonder: is Gamification useful for motiva-

ting people to learn only, or can it be used to engage

consumers with the Aegon brand? This question has

led to the thesis “Gamification: the Engagement

Game”. This thesis studied how Gamification can

be used to create customer brand engagement and

strengthen the brand. The objective was to evaluate

the online platform Speeljetoekomst.nu on three

different aspects: Gamification, Engagement and

the impact on the brand. The methodology used

to answer the thesis question involved both quanti-

tative and qualitative research.

Gamification impacts brand strengthFrom the quantitative research about the impact of

Gamification on brand strength can be concluded

that the website speeljetoekomst.nu has a positive

impacts on the Aegon brand:

• The visitors of Speeljetoekomst.nu are

significantly more positive about Aegon than

the general public.

• The website scores higher on each image

statements compared to other measurements.

• The website is relevant to the visitors, it is

likeable and they think it is fun and believable.

• This in turn has a positive effect on how visitors

assess the brand.

• And results in a significantly higher preference

of visitors of the website for Aegon.

Three drivers of engagementTo determine how Gamification can increase en-

gagement, qualitative research was done using the

Ground Theory Approach. In total 14 experts were

interviewed. The interviews were coded on three le-

vels: open coding, axial coding and specific coding.

The findings of this study show that Gamification

increases CBE because game elements influence

three drivers of engagement.

1. Experience: Gamification offers consumers

a new experience with the brand. This experience

is created by the sub-drivers aesthetics,

structure and newness. Game-elements as a

narrative, playfulness and quest(ions) can be

used to create experience.

2. Involvement: Gamification creates involvement

between consumers and a brand. This involve-

ment is the result of the sub-drivers access, rela-

tedness and reciprocity. The avatar and feedback

systems are examples of game-elements that

influence involvement.

3. Meaning: Gamification creates meaning to the

consumer by the sub-drivers purpose, value and

enhancement. Meaning is triggered by the use of

game-elements as rewards, and challenges.

Recommendations for future researchThis study is the first attempt to develop theory

about how Gamification can increase CBE and

strengthen the brand. Future research might con-

sider researching the effects of Gamification over

a long-term period and test whether the >>

GamificationThe Engagement Game

People procrastinate planning for the financial future. Although they see the urgency to explore their financial future,

only 10% spends time on it (Wijzer in Geldzaken, 2013). In order to change this, Aegon started a campaign in the Netherlands to make people financially more knowledgeable. The heart of this campaign

is Speeljetoekomst.nu. This online platform uses game-elements to give its users a playful insight into their financial future and how

certain life events may affect it. The platform not only facilitates users to precisely overview their future financial possibilities, it also presents a supposedly dry subject in such a way that it becomes fun and arouses interest. From September 2012 till today over 370.000

people visited the online platform and spend over 3,5 minutes playing their financial futures.

Esther Oostrom


Esther OostromEsther Oostrom is an experienced communications professional who has spent more than 14 years at

Aegon working in different positions. Esther started her career at the University of Maastricht after gradu-

ating International Business Studies in 1999. Her personal interest for online developments inspired her

to write a thesis about the possibilities of online personalized advertising with the title ‘Internet marke-

ting: the future is now’.

In 2000 Esther started working at Aegon the Netherlands as a product marketer and was responsible

for the development and introduction of several internet savings and investment products. In 2005 she

started working at the department of Communications as an advertising manager for the Aegon brand.

In the last three years she has been working as the Manager Brand & Social Media in the Central Com-

munications department in the Netherlands. In this position she was responsible for the development

and introduction of Speeljetoekomst.nu in 2012. This online platform uses Gamification ( a relative new

concept) in order to motivate people to learn about their financial futures. In 2013 this online platform

was rewarded with two Red Dot awards: a Best of Best in interaction design and the Grand Prix in

communication design! Esther has always enjoyed working at Aegon because of its dynamism, culture of

possibilities; strive for innovation and its relevant purpose.

When Esther started with the summer course for the master of Corporate Communications, she did expect

to complete the whole master. However, the interesting electives, the international students, an exclusive

study trip to New York with the opportunity to visit some of the world most famous companies, and again

an innovative for a thesis, made her to complete this master. She will actually miss it!

three identified drivers (experience, involvement,

and enhancement) also apply to engagement in

other company-related games.

Gamification: the engagement gameI predict that Gamification will become a new tactic

in brand engagement strategy in the near future.

There are several reasons why I believe this.

Firstly, it is different from traditional, non-interac-

tive advertising because of the experience it offers

through its design, interaction, feedback systems,

structure, playful elements and newness.

This is relevant for the new generations since they

are growing up in an interactive world where games

and serious gaming play a tremendous role in

everyday life.

Secondly, Gamification makes online platforms and

information very accessible. A gamified website

doesn’t ask too much effort from the visitor, it ma-

kes things easy to do, can create a flow which ma-

kes the costs of participation low. Since consumers

are encountering thousands of messages a day and

don’t spend a lot of time on gathering information

about brands, Gamification can help brands to

attract consumers to their platforms by making it as

accessible as possible.

Thirdly, Gamification has meaning since it has to

have a clear purpose that fits the needs of consu-

mers in order to get them to play. These goals and

the possibility of giving consumers new knowledge

and skills which are valuable rewards, make that

you can learn from it.

Fourthly, it is a useful strategy for financial service

providers to engage with consumers since it offers

them a chance to get to know the brand before

buying an expensive long-term focused product

which impacts the financial future and involves a

lot of money. Using Gamification makes it easier for

consumers to personalize the meaning of the brand

and its product to their lives. It makes it easier to

build relatedness through the elements as feedback,

interaction, empathy and reciprocity. This enables

consumers to make purchase decisions based on

their needs.

However, creating engagement is one challenge,

keeping consumers engaged is another. From the

interviews I’ve learned that the effects of Gamifi-

cation on engagement with brand are short-term

effects. In order to create an enduring engagement

with the brand, it is necessary to build in incentives

for consumers to keep getting back to a gamified

platform. If not, the positive impact on the brand

will eventually drop back. Or even worse! It may

negatively affect the brand constructs because

people become disappointed that nothing happened

after the positive experience. Consequently I refer to

Gamification as the engagement game!


The main conclusions from this

literature review are:

• Much research is based on the ‘philosophical’

concept of servant leadership and there is no

consensus on its’ definition. As a consequence

researchers find or appoint traits in literature

that they interpret as servant leadership.

The downside of this method is likely for bias to

occur: many attributes can be found as positively

influencing followers, which are also not neces-

sarily part of servant leadership. Models and

definitions have emerged according to the own

interpretations of the researchers.

• Leaders work in an environment that requires

demands from leadership. An important aspect

of the external environment for servant leaders

are the economy, national culture and reputation.

There seems to be a link that servant leadership

could actually be instrumental for reputation

management, which is alignment and the

authentic way of communication.

• The context of the company refers to its internal

demands such as the company culture. It takes

time for people to adjust to new strategies becau-

se norms and values that people have cannot be

changed overnight Alignment is needed in order

to execute the strategy successfully. The difficul-

ty of implementing the strategy is the interaction

between the manager and the employees.

Therefor alignment is a concept that we can use

in analyzing how servant leadership works. This

is what leaders need to be wary of.

MethodologyBecause of the free interpretation of servant leader-

ship traits by researchers and lack of definition on

what leadership is, this research is exploratory in

nature. First of all I focus on the dyadic relationship

between the leader and follower which is key for

servant leadership.

To reveal the operational use of the servant leader-

ship traits, qualitative semi-structured interviews

have been conducted. The interview questions are

based on the elements of the internal and contex-

tual environment that influence leadership, such as

culture, economic climate etc. The data collection is

among people who have leadership knowledge, such

as recruiters, people in a leadership advisory role. I

approached them through my network.

Findings of this thesisThere are three characteristics that can be con-

sidered the antecedents for servant leadership:

empathy, humility and authenticity. They can be

developed through moderating behavior. These

three characteristics can then ensure the following

behavioral outcomes of leaders:

• Creating a vision is being able to express the

strategy. In order for people to believe in you and

to be a strong presenter of that vision you need

to be authentic and passionate and visible. You

need to know what other people need (empathy)

and what they are good at (humility) and what are

the right conditions for them. Then you can offer

them a vision, a line of sight (goal orientation).

• Result oriented behavior: You need to be aware of

your environment, need to know the capabilities

of yourself and your team (empathy), then you

need to be decisive (result oriented behavior) in

order to set the goals (vision).

• Interpersonal acceptance: interpersonal accep-

tance is a very difficult trait to assess for and

it is definitely no reason to let people do things

without commitment, it does not necessarily

mean approving all behavior but noticing it

without judgment. Authenticity helps in accep-

ting unconditionally, because you know what your

thoughts are and you can separate them from

the other person. But what we also see here is

that empathy and authenticity are needed first in

order to have ‘interpersonal acceptance’.

The behavior that the leader displays, will

create the right conditions for the follower:

trust, empowerment, structure and alignment. >>

Servant LeadershipHow servant leader ship characteristics inte rrelate

The goal of this thesis is to find out how the characteristics of servant leadership interrelate. The first chapters of this thesis

provide a literature review on the construct and the environment in which leadership operates.

Jolanda Quak

Empathy

Humility

Authenticity

Vision Interpersonal Acceptance

Result orientation

Trust

Empowerment

Structure

Alignment


Jolanda QuakWhen I was at high school I was interested in people, different cultures and languages.

Therefore I choose to study International Management. I did not want to focus on one particular field

and this study was broad. After my studies I left off for Australia where I started working at Océ.

In Australia I experienced a different culture, met new people, learned a new language and got my

first ‘real’ job. I met great people from whom I learned “how to create more value for the customer”.

I still apply this in my current profession at Rotterdam School of Management where I work as Project

Manager Having spent four years in Australia, I then returned to The Netherlands and held several

(marketing) positions at i.e. Samsung and Heerema Marine Contractors. Then I found out that I wanted to

specialize more to have focus and decided to study Corporate Communication. This study has given me

lots of insights and taught me to see things from a different perspective.

ConclusionWe can conclude that empathy, humility and

authenticity are the mental states or personality

traits that really matter for leadership and can be

developed through moderating behavior. These

three characteristics can then ensure the following

behavioral outcomes of leaders: interpersonal

acceptance, result orientation and a expressing a

vision. Through these behavioral outcomes, leaders

can create trust and alignment. They will create the

right conditions for the follower to be motivated; the

followers will feel empowered or are given structure

where needed.

RecommendationsFor followers to be motivated and be aligned it is

important for leaders to work on their following

internalized states of authenticity, humility and

empathy. These internal states can only be achieved

through moderating behavior, reflection and feed-

back from subordinates. Leaders need to stay true

to themselves and only then they can make others

feel valued and happy!

The impact of environmental

NGOs / CSOs on the business

environment in post-communist

countries

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, post-communist societies and newly independent states found themselves in a new socio-economic and political situation. Some of the post-communist and post-Soviet

states managed to embrace political and economic change and transform smoothly into what is usually called electoral democracies,

with free market economies. Others are still experiencing hardships defining their political and economic model, with distort¬ed demo-cracies, rigged elections, oligopolies and uncompetitive economies.

Anna Saghabalyan

In both cases, from the very beginning Western

democracies offered institutional help to build

what are called “civil societies” that according to

one of the well-known representatives of the civic

concept, Polish thinker and former dissident

Adam Michnik, was supposed to put constant

pressure on governments to coerce reform

(Gorski, 2007).

This took the form of intensive creation of Non

Governmental or Civil Society Organizations (NGOs

or CSOs) in post-communist countries funded by

Western governments and institutions, that were

called to carry out different missions of enlighten-

ment, capacity building, and watchdog activities, to

help enhance Western or European values such as

democratic elections, freedom of speech, freedom

of media, good governance, human rights, minority

rights, etc. >>


In the next two decades there a significant amount

of research was produced on whether or not these

institutions and organizations were efficient in

reaching tangible goals and helping to promote

Western values in the East.

In the case of successful states, was it in fact the

achievement of civil society bringing these states

up to Western standards, or was it the political and

economic realities that shaped the future of some

successful Eastern European states? And if the

NGOs or CSOs really played a significant role, then

why did they fail to bring democracy and better

governance into less successful post-communist

state? After all, CSOs are still well funded by Wes-

tern governments and are visibly active in some less

democratic post-communist countries.

Although different approaches suggest a slight

difference between the “NGO” and “CSO” concept,

unless defined as “NGOs” in the literature or inter-

viewees, we will refer to “NGOs” as “CSOs” throug-

hout this paper, as Civil Society Organizations may

also refer to a wider spectrum of civic organizations.

While this thesis will offer a scholarly perspective on

the general weaknesses of CSOs in post- communist

countries, including academic findings on the

causes of the failures and shortcomings of the CSO

activities, it will mainly focus on one type-environ-

mental CSOs in post-communist countries.

Other CSOs called to strengthen democratic insti-

tutions and work on issues like elections, human

rights, and civic freedoms, do not necessarily inter-

act directly with the economic realities and busines-

ses on the ground and are more involved with state

institutions. Environmental CSOs, by definition,

deal with a wider concept of economic development

and business activities that shaped post-communist

countries in the last two decades.

By focusing on CSOs interactions and their impact

on extractive industries in some post-communist

countries, this research will particularly try to

answer the following questions:

1. Do environmental CSOs in post-communist

countries affect the behavior of companies and

governments in environmental management?

Are they successful in pursuing policy change

on environmental issues?

2. Do environmental CSOs themselves practice

Social Responsibility and do they themselves

formulate a shared value agenda with the

larger society? How do their activities affect

businesses and economic development so much

needed in the newly emerged states?

3. Is the donor community successful in fulfilling

their mission of bringing a western culture of

checks and balances with the help of civil soci-

ety into the post-communist world in the case of

environmental CSOs?

Based on the notion of shared value (Porter, Kramer, 2006, 2011) this paper will examine whether it is

the businesses or the CSOs that offer more shared

value to post-communist societies and whether or

not CSOs in post-communist societies are as suc-

cessful in pushing businesses to act responsibly as

their counterparts in Western countries. Finally, we

will look at how CSOs contribute to the important

agenda of development and social well-being in

these countries.

Porter and Kramer in their article “Strategy and

Society” (Porter, Kramer, 2006), suggest that “If

governments, NGOs, and other participants in civil

society weaken the ability of business to operate

productively, they may win battles but will lose the

war, as corporate and regional competitiveness

fade, wages stagnate, jobs disappear, and the

wealth that pays taxes and supports nonprofit con-

tributions evaporates”

Qualitative research for this thesis, namely inter-

views with representatives of extractive industries in

some post-communist countries and representatives

of International Financial Institutions (IFIs), as well

as diplomatic missions, show that often environ-

mental CSOs have brought little influence toward

policy change on environmental management and

have instead focused on attacking particular busi-

ness projects that do not necessarily contribute to

the environmental threats described by the CSOs,

and offer instead economic benefits to the countries

and communities.

By choosing confrontation versus cooperation, some

environmental CSOs not only fail to push businesses

to act more responsibly but instead delay invest-

ments and employment opportunities for economi-

cally impoverished regions in some post-communist

countries. This is one of the common ideas shared

by most of the interviewees in this paper.

Conflicts with communities, often fueled by percei-

ved threats described by CSOs, result in economic

problems not only for the companies but also for

the communities. Joint research from a number of

universities, led by Queensland University, finds

that major, world-class mining projects with capital

expenditures of between US$3 and US$5 billion

suffered roughly US$20 million per week of delayed

production in net present value terms as a result of

community conflict. Additionally, In the case of ini-

tial mineral exploration (early reconnaissance work),

interviewees estimated that around US$10,000

is lost for every day of delay in lost wages and the

costs of maintaining an exploration camp. (Franks et al, 2014).

While this is true in the case of many developing

countries in South America and elsewhere, in the

case of many post-communist countries, CSOs

also fail to reach to grassroots and increase their

membership, thus operating in isolation from larger

society. The incapability of post-communist CSOs

to reach out to their own societies is observed in

most of the research materials quoted in this paper. (e.g. Evans et al, 2006).

Available research data describes as a common is-

sue for many post-communist countries the isolati-

on and marginalization of the Western-funded CSOs

as a result of tailoring projects to please the donor,

rather than seeking support with the larger society.

Additionally, many researchers observe that it is the

tendency of Western donor organizations to cover

failures or to exaggerate the success of CSOs in

emerging economies to be able to justify their own

existence in front of their parliaments and govern-

ments in the West. (Mendelson, Glenn, 2002).

Based on the strategic communication framework

(Argenti, Howell, Beck, 2005) this paper will exami-

ne how effective the communication of CSOs is with

the larger society. Who are the primary and secon-

dary constituencies of the environmental CSOs in

post-communist countries?

There is some indication in the literature

reviewed for this thesis, that Western-funded

CSOs in post-communist countries do not aim

their messages at presumably primary >>

You can’t have a healthy society, unless you have healthy companies that are making a profit,

that are emp loying p eop le and that are growing. --- Michael Porter---


Anna SaghabalyanBorn 18.12.1976, Yerevan, Armenia

MA in Linguistics (Yerevan State Linguistic University 1993-1998), 17 years of experience in

Journalism and Public Relations.

Started career as a Journalist and news presenter at a local TV station while still a student.

In 1998 started working at Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty (US Congress funded RFE/RL) Armenian

Service. Covered all major political and economic topics, social development stories, conducted dozens

of interviews, with influential politicians, cabinet members, foreign diplomats, ambassadors, visiting

high-level foreign officials, etc.

During 10 years at RFE/RL spent several months a year at RFE/RL headquarters in Prague, Czech Repu-

blic, covering international news and writing analyses on international developments.

In 2001- 2005 was the editor of RFE/RL Armenian youth service, coordinating the work of a team of 7

young journalists.

In 2008, after 10 years as a Journalist at RFE/RL was invited to lead the communications departments of

Civilitas Foundation, founded by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs. From 2008- 2011 worked as Di-

rector of Communications for the Foundation as well as lead the communications activities of the former

Foreign Minister, a Member of Parliament now.

From 2012 to date is the Public Relations Manager of Geoteam CJSC, a subsidiary of Lydian Internatio-

nal, Canada TSX listed, a junior mining company with its flagship Amulsar project in Armenia. Since then

was working on enhancing the reputation of both the project as well as the mining industry, promoting

knowledge on responsible mining among local constituencies in Armenia. Despite huge challenges due to

traditionally low reputation of mining in the country, the project and the company stand out among many

constituencies in a better light due to different and more responsible practices as well as intensive and

open communication.

(Argenti, Howell, Beck, 2005) constituencies for

them- larger society, governments or businesses-but

rather aim at showing “results” to the donor to

secure further funding and tailor their activities and

policies according to the rules set by the grantors.

Thus their primary constituencies become the do-

nors, rather than their own societies.

Accountability of the CSOs is another issue obser-

ved in the literature reviewed. Some researchers

point out that unlike governments that have to be

reelected, and businesses that have to have profit,

performance standards of CSOs are not consistent.

Another issue is the lack of accountability to

society. Given the financial and political muscle of

official agencies, there is an obvious fear that donor

funding may reorient accountability upwards, away

from the grassroots, and bias performance-measu-

rement toward criteria defined by donors. (Edwards, Hulme, 1995).

Additionally interviewees, who have contributed to

this paper, highlight a lack of accountability of CSOs

as a major obstacle for a constructive dialogue.

While CSOs are not held accountable by the donors

for what they say and do and can have unfounded or

defamatory statements, businesses have to be care-

ful in their communications as they are accountable

to shareholders or institutional investors.

Another commonality in the literature observed as

well as in the interviews conducted suggests that, so

far, environmental CSOs in various post-communist

counties were unable to achieve significant policy

change. There may be several reasons for this accor-

ding to both the literature observed and interviews

conducted for this research: from a lack of capacity

to a lack of common policy as well as a lack of clear

demand on behalf of the grantors to reach out to

primary constituencies- larger society. (Mendelson, Glenn, 2002), (Uhlin, 2006).

Thus based on various findings of this paper, the

conclusion suggests several issues to address to

make the work of environmental CSOs more effi-

cient:

1. IMPROVED ACCOUNTABILTY.

This includes accountability regarding actions

and words, clearer goals and deliverables, and

transparency on financial flows. This also addres-

ses the issue of corrupt practices.

2. REDEFINING THE PRIMARY AUDIENCES.

Demand of more grassroots work from CSOs on

behalf of donors is vital to increase the efficiency

of CSOs. Instead of continuously communicating

their results to the donor and aiming their actions

at securing the next grant, CSOs can deliver tan-

gible results only when they aim their messages

at their own societies and engage with them. This

also includes transparent and results-oriented

engagement with economic players.

3. KNOWLEDGE AND CAPACITY BUILDING.

Unless CSOs mature professionally and refine

their messages and actions, it will not be pos-

sible to count on tangible results as unfounded

accusations and claims will always be dismissed

by governments and businesses and will not reso-

nate widely with the public. The donor communi-

ty should impose certain professional criteria on

funding the activities of CSOs.

4. REDEFINING THE COMMON GOOD AND

SHARED VALUES WITH SOCIETY.

The donor community needs to encourage CSOs

to build their strategies in line with the general

benefits for society. If CSOs continue to act in

isolation from others, including economic rea-

lities and fail to consider the common good for

society, they will unlikely be helpful in building

more effective societies, states, and economies

that is, overall, in the common interest of the

countries and the societies they operate in.

Western governments spend the money of their

taxpayers to help build democratic institutions

and civil society in post-communist and more so in

post-Soviet countries. There is a need to assess the

efficiency of this funding so far and look for shortco-

ming to be addressed. If civil society institutions are

isolated from the rest of the players of the society,

especially economic realities, they will not be able

to influence policy change. This thesis will identify

some of the shortcomings and look for solutions

for CSOs and especially environmental CSOs to be

more efficient in post-communist and post-Soviet

countries.


The initiators of the change are in the lead when ini-

tiating and implementing a change. Their main task

is to create strategic consensus to positively influen-

ce the perception and behaviour of the employees.

This perception and behaviour both are result of the

information and communication process that takes

place during the change process. This requires lea-

dership and communication skills from the leaders.

During a strategic change, the cascading model is

often applied as the communication model or as

part of the communication strategy. After the deci-

sion for strategic change is taken, the CEO informs

the leadership team, who in their turn explain things

to middle management, who will in their turn trans-

fer the message to the front-line employees.

The information is passed from top to bottom

following the organization scheme. Successful cas-

cading is a crucial success factor for the implemen-

tation of the change. Cascading is an interpersonal

process as it is concerns all the members of the

organization (from manager to CEO, from supervisor

to subordinate). At the same time this communica-

tion strategy seems not always successful. This is

the starting point of my thesis. The objective of it is

to work towards a model that offers insight into the

interpersonal aspects of cascading contributing to

successful strategic change.

The interpersonal aspects are:1. Vertical and lateral interaction

Vertical interaction has two dimensions. The first

is top-down. This downward interaction is impor-

tant to ‘sell’ the strategy to the organizational

members. The second dimension of the vertical

interaction is bottom-up. This upward interaction

provides management mostly information on

accountability to leadership. The lateral interac-

tion refers to the horizontal information flow that

occurs both within and between departments.

2. Knowhow

Employees need knowhow to understand the

vision of the new organization and they need the

knowhow to take responsibilities for their own

actions.

3. Defensive routines

‘Defensive routines’ is the collective name for in-

formal non-supporting behaviour that is observed

during a change.

My research findings partly confirm existing rese-

arch and partly advance the literature. These new

insights lead, in my perspective, to better cascading

and thus ultimately contribute to successful imple-

mentation of change.

The most important findings are:1. Attention should be paid especially to the

quality of the top-down interaction; the fact that

top-down interaction takes place is not enough.

Quality makes a big difference.

2. The implementation of strategic change suffers

if not only the quantity of bottom-up interaction

lacks behind; if both quantity and quality lack

behind this can seriously damage the change

process.

3. Lateral interaction is not only a source of infor-

mation; managers can really inspire and help

each other.

4. One of my most important findings is that an or-

ganization should not depend too much on a ‘vo-

luntary’ dedication of a manager in transferring

knowledge. An organization should measure and

guard this transfer of knowhow through manage-

ment KPI’s to optimize this intangible aspect.

5. A manager can make use of the intelligence of his

team to come with better solutions to implement

Heads up for change! Insights how interpersonal aspects contribute to s uccessful cascading during strategi c change

Global business environments continually change. Organizations will need to change to remain competitive. In general

two views on strategic change implementation are distinguished. One is the structural view on strategic change implementation.

This traditional perspective on strategy change is fed with the idea that change has to do with modifying the structural characteristics of the organization and monitoring the effect of techniques and actions.

In this perspective, the interpersonal and behavioural elements of strategic change are traditionally overlooked and misstep on that

what they are trying to transform, in the first place the attitude of the employees. Research learns that the success rate of strategic change

programs is only 30%. This implies that a change is not an easy thing. Therefore the other view that is gaining more interest,

this is the cognitive view on strategic change. The cognitive view on strategic change assumes that the attitude and behaviour of the

members of the organization towards the change are a result of how the members perceive the change.

Stefanie Wienhoven


Stefanie WienhovenStefanie Wienhoven is an experienced communications professional who has spent 14 years of her career

at Océ-Technologies, working in many different parts of that organization. Stefanie started her career at

Océ within the Training Center. First as a Technical Writer, followed by the job Customer Trainer.

After four years of training colleagues and customers throughout Europe and the US she moved into

international Product Marketing and was part of a very diverse and dynamic team. In that team she was

responsible for product introductions and international customer events. After Océ became part of the

Canon group, she found a new challenge as Communication Manager for the site in Venlo.

Stefanie has always been very proud on Océ’s innovative products, services and her work for this

company. Before starting her professional career Stefanie studied Information Works at the Hogeschool

Midden-Brabant in Tilburg.

Stefanie lives together with Paul and in her free time she enjoys sporting.

the change. In this way not only the uncertainty

of the employees is reduced moreover it also

reduces the uncertainty of the manager.

6. This study confirms this finding but also shows

that the difference of the information needs not

only lies in the kind of information that is brought

across, it is also the approach of this information

transfer that can be totally different.

7. Communication on a clear planning and timing

may help to prevent resistance.

With the identification of above mentioned insights

I am able to develop a process model that addresses

the interpersonal aspects per phase of the strategic

change. Starting point of this model is that all as-

pects are important during all phases.

The model shows which interaction should

be emphasized in each of the phases.

When a strategic change is initiated I would recom-

mend the change initiators and the involved com-

munication professionals to address three important

steps related to the three interpersonal aspects.

By taking these steps the cascading process is posi-

tively influenced.

1. Determine how the interpersonal aspects can

be optimized for the organization and for the

change process. For instance if there is a risk

that bottom-up interactions are not organized

this should be taken into account when preparing

a communications plan.

2. Secure the quality of interpersonal aspects as

much as possible. Measure and evaluate the

communications process.

3. Use the process model as a navigation tool to

determine if all aspects are addressed during all

phases and whether emphasis is laid on the right

interaction per phase.


New eraTechnological developments have spurred new ways

of interaction and increased not only the amount of

information but also the processing power to make

sense of the gathered data. We are at the tipping

point of knowledge creation: artificial intelligence

and automated data-gathering will span our scope of

insight: advanced analytics can predict multiple-futu-

res real-time, based on human (inter)action. Embed-

ded into applications (that are spiced with business

rules) it can also take action.

These developments create a hyper-dynamical

environment that has a profound impact on how

we as humans and organizations operate.

Horizontalization changes the direction of the flow of

interaction and enables us to combine paradoxes of

competition and collaboration through a

multi-stakeholder approach.

Innovative organizations Innovative organizations thrive well in this new en-

vironment. The concept of an innovative organization

is less clear. By examining the cornerstones of orga-

nizations: strategy, structure and culture an attempt

is made to coin the core elements that ‘nourishes’

the innovativeness of organizations to five principles

and five cultural concepts.

Organizational innovationFurther investigation in the impact of innovation on

organizational performance revealed the importance

of organizational innovation. The pace of change

dictates a more decentralizaed structure to be able

to adapt and a coordination that allows more auto-

nomy and an iterative way of working, embedded in

a culture that rewards exploration and learning. Digi-

talization has made it possible to organize resources

much more resilient resulting in a new ‘dandelion’

framework of collaboration through social netwoks of

multi-disciplinary teams across the boundaries of the

organization. This open and more networked struc-

ture puts challenges in the management of collective

meaning and shared identity.

Social CapitalIn innovative companies social capital is the diffe-

rentiator. Together with the need for organizational

innovation and the emerging multi-networked

structure the importance of insight on the organi-

zation culture has increased. Especially with regard

to the capacity to access, anchor and diffuse (tacit

and implicit) knowledge. The density and intensity

of interaction influences this capacity. The AC|DC

model (Mahroum) is suggested as a means to track

organziational collaborative performance. To manage

information and interactivity more emphasis shoud

be given to enhanced network-analysis and boundary

management: especially to the rules that govern

access, bonding and shared-meaning.

Strategy, structure and cultureTo understand the impact of digitization the basic

model of organization in which organization strategy,

structure and culture are aligned with the commu-

nication strategy, stucture and culture is adapted.

Digitization makes the information-layer an auto-

nomous component that influences organizational

performance and competitiveness, thus a third layer

of interaction that resides in between the operational

and communication layer. The foundation for this

third layer is based on the organizational value of

information that increases when the context is less

stable, which is the case in this era of dynamic

change. Operational activities deliver information

that is stored and interpreted, but also uses infor-

mation from the enterprise information management

system to make (automated) operational decisions.

The communications layer is a mediator or broker of

meaning. Through communications we give meaning

to information and create knowledge. At the center or

core resides the organziational identity that shapes

and is shaped by the stakeholders that are relevant

to create messages, contribute information and drive

operational performance. The organizational system

is embedded in a context (environment) that influen-

ces the system. The members in this system aim to

align all layers to maximize the viability of the core.

Ownership of informationDefining the information layer as a separate entity

gives raise to the question of ownership. Who governs

the information strategy, structure and culture of

the organziation? The usual suspect: the CIO and

information specialists are explored (through inter-

views, third-party surveys) but no satisfying answer

has surfaced. The CIO’s certainly see the opportunity

but focus mainly on the operational system and

have been seperated from business thinking in most

organizations. The CCO’s understand the multi-sta-

keholder perspective and are experienced managers

The communication factor in innovative organiz ations / a story about the bu tterflies in the corporate communic ation office

To be accountable in the much more data-driven culture of innovative organizations communications should claim its stake in

creating social capital for the organization. The value that corporate communication can add to social capaital reveales the importance of three area’s: boundary management, behavioural science & dynamic network analysis and multi-identity-management. The AC|DC-model

(developed by Mahroum e.o.) could be of use to create a metric of social capital: showing an organizations absorptive and development

capacity. It is suggested that the newly introduced C-suite seat: the CDO (Chief Digital Officer) is the manager of the social capital and if corporate communication takes leadership on the new competences

the CDO might as well be the former CCO.

Lotte Zwijnenburg


Lotte ZwijnenburgLotte Zwijnenburg (1968) started her carreer in old-school networking at the dutch association of the

bicycle and automotive industries (RAI Vereniging), then joined Fresco: a team of geeks that ‘tinkered the

web’. This started her journey of exploration of the digital word and how on- and off-line can invigorate

eachother. She experienced the pitfalls and opportunities of the digital world firsthand at the agencies

and (financial) corporates she joined thereafter. The digital environment has matured and continues to

grow smarter and more immersive every day which inspires her to keep exploring the application of new

options and its practical use for human interaction.

Because Lotte started her digital journey at an early stage she can understand the data driven world with

a creative mind, combining facts with imagination. Her vast experience in digital communcation helps her

to quickly recognize implications and opportunities for organizations. With her own company AgudezA:

an atom in a web of digital specialists, she inspires companies and students to explore the digital and

business-world and supports them to set, implement and realize ambitious goals in a realistic way.

In real-life she likes to sculpture preferably in marble, which might well be an allegory of the work she

does as a consultant: shaping tenacious resources to reveal their beauty.

[email protected]

of the relational-orietation of buisness. But they have

kept themselves too far away from the mathimatical

implications of information in most organizations.

The perfect ‘governer’ for the information layer knows

how data-driven decision-making drives organizati-

onal performance, yet has retained the sensibility of

content creation and the creation of meaning. Both

sides are necessary to build and support the structu-

re and culture of innovative organizations. Yet both

sides have reservations about creating immediate

sources of competitiveness.

CDOWhich leaves the floor to a new ‘director’: the Chief

Digial Officer. In some organizations the CEO or for-

mer Marketing Officer has taken this seat. This has

improved alignment (CEO) and provides a roadmap

to make the transformation to ‘the new age’. In other

organizations CMO and sometimes CCO have energi-

zed the organization with pilots and practices on how

to engage and interact with customers, employees

and other stakeholders. Just a few organizations are

taking their first steps in balancing the stabilizing ap-

proach of alignment with the fragmenting approach

of decentralization. The wisdom how to reach a pro-

ductive and sustainable balance might come from a

network of ‘communities of practice’ and the science

of chaos: that investigates simplicity (patterns) in

dynamic complex systems. This way of immersive

strategy plotting should be coached by the CDO.

Communication competenceFor communications focus on its capacity to manage

interaction and the contribution of information

and knowledge in and across the boundaries of the

company creates added value to the social capital of

the organization. To manage the social capital a good

understanding of network dynamics and nudging of

the absorptive capacity across organizational boun-

daries is necessary. It also creates the challenge in

developing practices to shape the multi-identification

framework within the dandelion structure which

allows for diversity yet shapes unity. In the mul-

ti-network structure communications is part of the

multidiciplinaire teams. By monitoring the team-con-

tribution to social capital they can make a valuable

contribution to these ‘communities of practice’. This

enhanced capability of communications is coined

‘scientific boundary management’ to stress the art of

communication science (or bahavioral economics as

it sometimes is called).

Immediate source of valueIf communications embraces the opportunities of

this new era, communication professionals will be

cherished teammembers and might even create

immediate sources of value by also leveraging their

competences as digital interaction-strategist, com-

munity managers or boundary-balancers beyond the

organziational borders.

Thesis CoachesProf. dr. C ees B.M. van RielProfessor of Corporate Communication

Rotterdam School of Management

Programme Director,

MSc. Corporate Communication

Corporate Communication Centre

Cees B.M. van Riel (1951) is professor of Corporate

Communication at the Rotterdam School of

Management/Erasmus University. He is director and

founding father of the Master of Science in Corporate

Communication programme (MSc degree programme)

at the same business school.

Further he is the co-founder of the Reputation Institute

(www.reputationinstitute.com) in New York. In 2011

Cees van Riel has received the Pathfinder Award, the

highest academic honour bestowed by the Institute for

Public Relations (IPR) for his contribution to research

in the field of corporate reputation and strategic

alignment. Cees van Riel has published articles in

prestige journals as The Academy of Management

Journal, Long Range Planning, Journal of Management

Studies, Journal of Marketing, and ten books.

His best known books are Principles of Corporate Communication (1996), Fame & Fortune (2004) and

Essentials of Corporate Communication (2006),

The Alignment Factor (2012).

Paul A. ArgentiProfessor of Corporate Communication

The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

Professor Paul A. Argenti has taught management,

corporate responsibility, and corporate communication

starting in 1977 at the Harvard Business School, from

1979-81 at the Columbia Business School, and since

1981 as a faculty member at Dartmouth’s Tuck School


of Business. He has also taught as a visiting pro-

fessor at the International University of Japan, the

Helsinki School of Economics, Erasmus University

in the Netherlands, London Business School, and

Singapore Management University. He currently

serves as Faculty Director for Tuck’s Leadership and

Strategic Impact Program, its Brand and Reputation

programs, and Tuck’s executive programs for Novar-

tis, Hitachi, and Freddie Mac.

Professor Argenti is the author of many textbooks,

such as ‘Corporate Communication’ (sixth edition 2013), ‘Corporate Responsibility’; Argenti co-au-

thored (with Courtney Barnes) ‘Digital Strategies for

Powerful Corporate Communication’(2009). Other

books include ‘Strategic Corporate Communication’

(2007), ‘The Power of Corporate Communication’

(co-authored with UCLA’s Janis Forman), and ‘The

Fast Forward MBA Pocket Reference’

(several editions).

Professor Argenti has written and edited numerous

articles for academic publications and practitioner

journals such as Harvard Business Review,

California Management Review, and Sloan Manage-

ment Review. Professor Argenti also blogs regularly

for Harvard Business Review, the Washington

Post, and US News & World Report and appears

frequently on radio (NPR) and television (CNBC)

commenting on topics related to communications,

reputation, and corporate responsibility.

Dr. Mignon D. van Halderen

Leading Thoughts

Research, advice and teaching on corporate

communication

Mignon van Halderen (PhD) is an independent

consultant operating at the interface of corporate

advice, research and (executive) teaching. She ad-

vises companies on thought leadership, increasing

the impact of a company’s (identity) expressiveness

efforts and (re) building trust/legitimacy. She

lectures and coaches students on the same topics

and works on academic papers to ground her

knowledge and expertise in solid academic theories

and frameworks. Through her 10 years’ experience

(2002 – 2012) at the Corporate Communication

Centre of RSM Mignon has become skilled in taking

an evidence-based approach to business problems

(both qualitatively and quantitatively) and making

academic models useful for a business audience.

Mignon’s expertise in corporate language is focused

on how companies express their identity expressi-

ons by means of framing, storytelling, decoupling

etc. On this topic, she has published an article in

the Corporate Reputation Review in which she com-

pares the identity expressions of six international oil

companies. She also works on several other papers,

including a case study in which she investigates how

BP and Exxon’s impression management tactics

evolved against rising legitimacy challenges and a

conceptual paper in which she summarises the use

of different framing techniques.

Dr. Guido A.J.M. B erensAssistant Professor


Dr. Guido Berens is an Assistant Professor at the

Corporate Communication Centre (department

Business Society Management) of Rotterdam School

of Management, Erasmus University. He earned

his doctoral degree in Corporate Communication

from the Erasmus Research Institute of Manage-

ment (Erasmus University) and Master degrees in

Psychology and Philosophy from the University of

Nijmegen. Guido’s research interests include repu-

tation management, corporate social responsibility,

and public affairs. His research has been published

in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Management

Studies, and Journal of Business Ethics, among

others. Guido teaches research methodology in the

Master and PhD programmess at RSM.

Colophon


Rotterdam School of Management

Erasmus University Rotterdam

PO Box 1738

3000 DR Rotterdam

The Netherlands

Editors

Graduates 2014

and Corporate Communication Centre

Design

Nienke van Look, concept & ontwerp

Rotterdam

Publisher


© November 2014

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research abstracts · 2015-11-27 · gamification > the engagement game jolanda quak / servant...

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